25 Chinese miners killed in blast

Rescuers said at least 25 miners were killed on Sunday in a major gas explosion at a coal mine in north China's Shaanxi province, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Of the 293 miners who were working underground when the blast occurred in the Chenjiashan coal mine in Tongchuan City at 7:10 am (local time), 127 had escaped or were rescued, Xinhua said.
The report did not mention the fate of the remaining 141 miners, but a mine safety official said earlier, the workers were trapped.
The explosion, which happened in a pit about eight kilometres from the entrance to the shaft, threatens to be the worst disaster in recent years to hit China, the world's biggest coal producer.