BEIJING, October 31 (RIA Novosti) - At least 23 miners were killed and another six unaccounted for after an explosion at a coal mine in northwest China, the Xinhua news agency said on Friday.
The accident occurred at the Yaotou mine, in China's Shaanxi Province, on Wednesday. Some 36 workers were at the mine at the time of the gas explosion, and only seven have managed to escape, the agency said citing a spokesman for the provincial government.
The Yaotou mine is state-owned and run by the local government.
China's mining industry is considered one of the world's most dangerous with accidents killing up to 7,000 workers annually. A major gas blast at Liaoning's Sunjiawan mine in February 2005 killed more than 200 miners, making it the worst mining tragedy in China for at least 15 years.
