15 miners have died and five others were hospitalized in two coalmine accidents in central China, according to local work safety sources yesterday.

A flooding happened at about 4:30 AM Sunday in the Zhenxing Coal Mine in Daye City, central China's Hubei Province. 10 miners were working underground at the time, according to the Huangshi City Work Safety Bureau.

Three miners managed to escape and another was rescued by emergency workers, said the bureau. But six others died in the accident. Their bodies have been found, said the bureau, adding that investigations into the cause of the flooding are underway.

In neighboring Hunan Province, four more bodies from a coalmine gas explosion were recovered on Sunday, raising the death toll to nine, according to the provincial work safety administration.

The explosion occurred at about 10:00 AM Thursday at Lianyi Coal Mine in Lianyuan City when 20 miners were working underground.

Nine workers managed to escape and two others were rescued, said the administration. Five of the 11 survivors are still receiving treatment in hospital, it said.

Initial investigations showed that the mine owner, brought in the miners to repair tunnels without measuring the gas density and their electric tools triggered the explosion. The owner of the mine has run away.

(Xinhua News Agency September 4, 2006)