Twenty-six people have died in five accidents at coal mines and construction sites in north China's Hebei Province over the past four days, reported a circular issued by the provincial government on Tuesday.

The figure includes thirteen miners killed in a fire on Monday in the Longxin Coal Mine in Hecun Township of Handan City.

The blaze is believed to have started with an electrical fire but investigations are continuing.

There were other four accidents that claimed 13 lives in recent days, ringing further alarm bells over the safety of coal mines and construction sites in the province.

A freight elevator collapsed on Tuesday, killing three workers in Qinhuangdao City.

Last weekend, four miners died from a gas explosion in Xuandong Coal Mine in Zhangjiakou City.

The other two accidents included the collapse of buildings in cities of Cangzhou and Langfang that killed a total of six construction workers.

(Xinhua News Agency October 18, 2006)