Chinese coal mine blast traps 166 workers

AT least 166 workers were trapped yesterday after an explosion tore through a central Chinese coal mine, sending smoke billowing from air vents, the government said. Another 127 miners escaped.

The blast rocked the state-owned Chenjiashan coal mine in Shaanxi province at 7:20am, when 293 workers were underground, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The explosion was centered around coal pits five miles from the mine entrance, it said.

At least 166 workers remained trapped, while 127 escaped, Xinhua said, citing the State Bureau of Production Safety. Most who escaped were working close to the entrance and many suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning - some 41 were hospitalised, Xinhua said.