17 miners have been confirmed dead and five others missing following a colliery gas blast on Monday morning in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

 

Rescuers have found the bodies of 17 miners. Five others remain trapped in the pit at Rongsheng Colliery in Jiudonggou Village, Otog Banner, in the southwest.

 

Liu Jin, mayor of Erdos City, who has taken command of the rescue work, said that 34 miners were working underground when the blast went off. Only 12 miners have been rescued.

 

Rongsheng Colliery, located in resource-rich Wuhai City, is a privately owned mine with an annual production capacity of 900,000 tons. Investigators have found that the mine was operating without a safety production license.

 

The mine's representative Li Zhongfu, aged 43 and a native of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, is currently in police detention.

 

In other news, an explosion at a coalmine in Hunan Province killed 11 people on Sunday including the mine's leaders and a safety inspector.

 

The explosion occurred at about 5:00 p.m. Sunday at Gaoping Coal Mine in Xiangmei Township, Yongxing County, Hunan Province.

 

The victims include the head and deputy head of the coalmine, a safety inspector from the township safety department, a gas inspector and seven miners, according to Hu Jianquan, director of the Yongxing County Coal Industry Bureau.

 

The coalmine, with an annual production capacity of 20,000 tons, is owned by the township.

 

An investigation into the cause of the accident is underway.

 

According to sources, the provincial coalmine safety department revoked the coalmine's production permit on March 2 after discovering that safety measures were substandard.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 14, 2006)