Gas blast kills 10 in north China mine
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At least 10 people are confirmed dead and one is missing after a coal mine gas explosion Tuesday in north China's Shanxi Province, a spokesperson for work safety authorities said Wednesday.
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The accident occurred at around 4:50 p.m. Tuesday when 41 miners were working in the shaft of Chentong Coal Industry Co., Ltd., in Yuxian County.
Twenty-seven people escaped from the scene unhurt and 14 were trapped underground, said Liu Xianyun, of the work safety committee of Yangquan City, which administers Yuxian county.
Three of the trapped had been rescued, while 10 were confirmed dead and one was still missing, Liu said.
"I'll never work in mines again," rescued miner Li Zuoyin said, lying in a bed of the People's Hospital of Yuxian County.
Still suffering from dizziness and intense chest pain, 42-year-old Li said it never occurred to him that he might be in a mining accident.
"I'll return to my hometown in Sichuan and find a safe job."
In a bed near Li, lies Zhao Qiang, who has been a miner for five years. Shirt-less and with some coal on his face, he had an intravenous drip going into his arm.
"At the time of the blast, I felt nothing but a terrible feeling of suffocation. Then I remembered something from safety training." He crouched and kept himself below the toxic gas.
Zhao heard Li calling him. Together with Li, he pulled an unconscious safety inspector to a lower place before he passed out.
In another ward, Xie Haiming, 58, was in a more serious condition and could not speak.
Rong Changtai, head of the hospital, said the three miners were all in a stable condition.
The mining company was licensed with an annual production capacity of 600,000 tonnes.
Rescue work is continuing, and work safety authorities are investigating the cause of the accident.
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