The death toll from a gas explosion at a coal mine in north-east China rose to 26 on Friday, state media reported. The blast in the Baijiagou Coal Mine in Liaoning Province occurred Monday morning as 81 miners were working underground, Xinhua news agency reported. Eleven miners were injured in the accident, four of them severely.
Rescuers had been working to find four miners trapped in the blast, but only managed to recover their bodies on Friday, Xinhua said. The mine pledged that each family of the deceased would receive a minimum 200,000 yuan (30,000 dollars) in compensation, the agency said.
China's coal mines are among the most dangerous in the world, with safety standards often ignored in the quest for profits and the drive to meet demand for coal - the source of about 70 percent of the country's energy. Nearly 3,800 people died in Chinese coal mines last year, according to official figures, although independent monitors say the real figure was likely far higher since many accidents were covered up.
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