Death toll rises to 13 in mine explosion in central China

The number of deaths from a burst in a mine of coal in the central Chinese province of Henan it rose to 13 as of Sunday night, while three other people remained missing, state media reported in the last few hours.

Thus, the number of victims increased by three compared to the previous report, which reported ten deaths.

The accident occurred on Friday afternoon in a mine in the city of Pingdingshan when, according to the preliminary investigation, a gas and coal explosion occurred on the outside of a ventilation shaft.

At the time of the accident, 425 people were working in the mine.

Search teams continue working to rescue the workers who are still trapped at the site, the official Xinhua agency reported last night.

The authorities have opened an investigation and have preventively detained those responsible for the mine, owned by the Pingdingshan Tianan Coal Mining company.

Last December, a coal mine accident in the city of Jixi, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, killed twelve people.

At the end of last November, a total of eleven workers lost their lives in an accident at a coal mine also located in Heilongjiang.

Coal mines – material with which China generates around a 60% of their energy – continue to register a high accident rate in the Asian country, although in recent years the number of fatal accidents has been significantly reduced.