China coal mine blast kills 20, 23 trapped

BEIJING, Nov 10 (AFP): At least 20 workers were killed and another 23 were trapped underground after a blast at a mine in China today, state media said, in the latest disaster to hit the country's vast mining industry. The mine was hit by a "coal and gas outburst"-a sudden and violent ejection of coal, gas and rock from a coal face in a mine, which can cause serious injuries and damage machinery, a local mine safety official told. The official China News Service (CNS) said 20 people had been confirmed dead, and that efforts to rescue the remaining 23 from the mine in the south-western province of Yunnan were being hampered by a gas leak. "Eighteen rescue workers are down in the coal mine, but the high levels of gas could cause an explosion, making it hard to progress with the rescue," Tan Xiaopeng, the head of the local fire-fighting department, told CNS.