Gas explosion kills 33 miners

An explosion of trapped gas in a central China coal mine has killed 33 miners.

Twelve miners escaped from the shaft after the blast occurred at about 9.20pm on Thursday, the Communist Party newspaper People's Daily reported.

It said the blast was caused by a lack of ventilation in a new shaft dug at the mine in Shanxi province's Jiaocheng county. The shift foreman and gas safety inspector were among those killed in the mine.

A woman who answered the phone at the Jiaocheng county bureau of mining confirmed the death toll, but said all officials were at the scene of the accident and unavailable to answer further questions.

Thousands of Chinese miners die each year in explosions, cave-ins and flooding caused by untrained miners, poor engineering and a lack of even basic safety features.

Many mines lack fans or other forms of ventilation to disperse volatile coal gas produced while mining.