Flooding traps 17 in northern China coal mine, official says

Flooding traps 17 in northern China coal mine

BEIJING — Flooding has trapped 17 coal miners in northeastern China, while the death toll from a gas blast at another mine rose to 10, a government official and state media said Saturday.

The flooding occurred Friday afternoon at the mine in Meikou city in Jilin province, a provincial work safety official said.

Workers were attempting to rescue the 17 trapped miners, said the man who would not give his name, which is common among Chinese officials.

Separately, rescuers late Friday found a final body, bringing the death toll from a gas explosion at a coal mine in southern China to 10.

A spokesman with the Guizhou Provincial Work Safety Bureau told the official Xinhua News Agency that 172 miners were underground when the explosion occurred at the Zhenxing mine Thursday night.

A gas explosion last weekend at a northern Chinese coal mine killed 108 and was the country’s worst mining accident in two years.

China’s mining industry is the world’s deadliest. Most accidents are blamed on corruption, poor regulation, and cutting corners on safety to feed the growing economy’s insatiable demand for coal.