China blast traps 100 miners

More than 5,000 people died in Chinese mines last year

BEIJING, China -- More than 100 miners are reportedly trapped after a gas explosion tore through a coal mine in China's north east.

Rescue workers have saved 25 of an estimated 140 people who were deep in the mine when the blast struck Thursday morning, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

China has the world's biggest mining industry, but it is also one of the deadliest. In 2001, China reported more than 5,000 mining-related deaths.

An official coordinating rescue efforts at the Chengzihe Coal Mine in the town of Jixi, Heilongjiang province, said there was no word yet on the fate of the trapped miners.

"The number of those trapped has not changed, but we are still trying," the official told Reuters news agency.

All night long

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Among those trapped was the mine's general manager, Zhao Wenlin, who was inspecting work underground when the blast occurred, Xinhua said.

It was not clear what triggered the explosion and police in Jixi declined to comment.

Xinhua said eight miners were hospitalized in a serious condition.

Doctors at Jixi Mining Group hospital said 13 miners had been brought in with minor injuries and they expected more.

"We will be here all night long waiting for possibly more patients to come," one told Reuters by telephone.

The government has tried to shut down thousands of small, illegal mines in China that do not meet safety standards, but they often re-open with protection from local authorities lured by high profits.

Many small mines run by town officials or private investors lack fire and ventilation equipment.

Earlier this month, a Chinese court sentenced one county official to death and three others to long prison sentences for their involvement in the cover-up of a tin mine explosion last year that killed 81 people.

In September 2000, 162 miners died after being trapped following a similar explosion in the southwestern province of Guizhou, some after failed attempts to keep them alive by sliding porridge, milk, water and soup down a long iron pipe.