Chinese mine disaster takes year's death toll beyond 3,400

A gas explosion in a northeastern Chinese coal mine has killed at least 39 miners today, the latest tragedy to strike the nation’s notoriously deadly mining industry.

Rescuers hold out little chance of finding alive four other miners who were inside the pit when the explosion hit the Dingsheng mine this afternoon, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

A team of 30 rescuers had been rushed to the mine, located in Heilongjiang province’s Hegang municipality, 868 miles north of Beijing. There was no immediate word on the cause of the explosion.

Such explosions are usually caused by a lack of ventilation to disperse coal gas that builds up during the mining process.

China’s notoriously unsafe coal mines have killed more than 3,400 people already this year - and more than 150 miners in the past month alone. The worst offenders are typically small, privately owned mines that can operate outside the supervision of safety agencies.