At least 30 people were killed in two mine explosions in China on Wednesday, the deadliest blast involving a state-run coal mine already flagged for safety violations, state media reported.
The explosion at the Zijiang coal mine in Lengshuijiang, Hunan province, was followed by a gas leak that killed at least 21 people. Some 232 workers were underground when the gas leak occurred, state television said.
The workers were killed when a large amount of poisonous gas poured into the pit where they were working, Xinhua news agency said.
Six rescue teams were searching underground for four missing workers, television said.
The Zijiang mine was on a list of 61 state-owned coal mines that fell short of basic work safety conditions released by national coal mine safety authorities in May, television reported.
China’s coal mines are the world’s deadliest. Last year, more than 6,000 miners were killed in explosions and accidents.
Earlier on Wednesday, nine people were killed in an explosion at an iron mine in Shahe City, north of Hebei Province, Xinhua said.
Eight others were injured in the above-ground explosion close to a miners’ dormitory.
The mine is located adjacent to iron mines where a fire killed 70 people last November, Xinhua said.
After a string of recent mine disasters, including the worst in half a century that killed 214 people in February, Beijing pledged to spend more than $6 billion in the coming years to improve safety.
