Twenty-eight miners have been killed and one more remains trapped underground after a gas explosion in a coal mine in central China, Xinhua said.
The explosion hit the Xialiuchong Coal Mine in China’s Hunan Province at around 6 pm local time (10:00 GMT) on Saturday when a total of 35 miners were working in the mine, the news agency said.
Six miners have been rescued and admitted to hospital, the report said. Some 40 rescuers were searching the remaining one trapped.
The state-owned Xialiuchong Coal Mine was put into operation four decades ago, Xinhua said.
The coal industry in energy-hungry China is one of the most dangerous in the world due to poor work safety standards and intensive work schedules. Some 7,000 lives are lost annually in accidents at coal mines in the country.
