11 missing after coal mine floods in China’s northwest

By Mahmut Atanur

BEIJING

Around ten miners remain missing after water flooded a coal mine in China’s northwest early Monday morning.

State news agency Xinhua quoted a local government spokesman as saying that 67 workers were in the shaft at the Zhaojin mine in Yaozhou District in Shan Xi province when the accident took place around 8 a.m. (0000GMT)

While 11 remain missing, 56 managed to escape the waters.

Xinhua reported that rescue work is continuing at the mine.

Chinese mines are among some of the deadliest in the world due to lax regulations and poor operating procedures.

In recent years, the country has produced more than one-third of the world's annual coal output, but accounted for more than two-thirds of global mining deaths annually, according to Mining Technology.

In January, 11 workers were killed after a coal mine collapsed in northwest Shan Xi province, while in February a gas leak at a coal mine in northeast Jilin Province left 12 miners dead.

Just last month, 19 people died after a coal mine collapsed in northern China while 129 workers were working underground.