China: Coal mine explosion in Xinjiang Autonomous Region kills 17

World Today

Rescued miner Duan Xukang tells about his escape experience during a coal mine gas blast as he receives medical treatment in a hospital in Fukang City, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 6, 2014.

Seventeen coal miners have died after being trapped by a weekend gas explosion in northwestern China, according to Xinhua News Agency.

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The miners were trapped Saturday by the explosion at a mine 120 kilometers (70 miles) from Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, Xinhua said. It said Monday they had died and the cause of the incident was under investigation.

The pit where the explosion occurred Saturday is mined by Dahuangshan Yuxin Coal Mining Co. Ltd., owned by the sixth agricultural division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. It is a paramilitary organization that was revived by the central government in the 1980s to aid the region’s construction and development.

Three other people working inside the mine were rescued earlier.

Report compiled with information from Xinhua and The Associated Press.