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.