China coal mine blast kills 20

A gas blast at a coal mine in northern China killed 20 people, the government said today, shortly after an unrelated mine explosion left 30 dead and 20 missing.

The blast on Friday in the Hougou Coal Mine in Puxian in Shanxi province killed 14 miners working underground and triggered an explosion at the neighbouring Shapingzi Coal Mine that killed six more people, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The incident was under investigation.

The disaster came just hours after an explosion on Thursday in Chengde, a city north of Beijing, killed at least 30 workers and left 20 missing. Rescuers were continuing to search today for the missing at the Nuan’erhe Coal Mine.

China’s mines are the world’s deadliest despite a nationwide safety crackdown and the closure of thousands of smaller, poorly-equipped pits.

Accidents killed 1,113 coal miners in the first three months of this year – up 20.8% from the same period of 2004, according to the government.