Coal mine blast kills 15 in Shaanxi
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-06-16 10:54

Fifteen people were confirmed killed and seven others were still missing as of 6:00 a.m. Wednesday in a coal mine blast that occurred Tuesday afternoon in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, local officials said.

The blast took place at 4:50 p.m. Tuesday in the No. 1 coal mine of the Huangling Mining Co., Ltd. when 85 miners were working under ground. Of them, 65 miners were rescued, including five injured miners who were rushed to hospital.

The 15 killed people included two rescuers, according to the provincial bureau for supervising safety in coal production.

A task force has been set up to search for the missing miners and to deal with the aftermath of the accident.

The state-owned No. 1 coal mine of the Huangling Mining Co., Ltd., with an annual capacity of 6 million tons, went into operation in 2001.