BEIJING – Sixteen workers died and one is in critical condition after being trapped underground in a coal mine in southwestern China today, reported state broadcaster CCTV.
A conveyor belt caught fire in the morning, producing dangerous levels of carbon monoxide, state news agency Xinhua cited the government as saying.
Medics are fighting to save the life of the remaining survivor, said CCTV.
The cause of the incident is still under investigation, said the Qijiang district government on the Twitter-like Weibo platform.
The Songzao Coal Mine facility is owned by state energy firm Chongqing Energy and located just outside Chongqing city.
Mining accidents are common in China, where the industry has a poor safety record and regulations are often weakly enforced.
At least 14 miners were killed in a coal and gas blast last December in a mine in southwestern Guizhou province.
In December 2018, seven miners died in Chongqing after the connecting segment of a skip broke and fell down a shaft.
In October the same year, 21 miners died in eastern Shandong province after pressure in a mine caused rocks to fracture and break, blocking the tunnel and trapping the workers. Only one was rescued alive. – AFP, September 27, 2020
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