BEIJING, February 22 (RIA Novosti) - At least 73 miners died and dozens of others were trapped underground in a blast that hit a coal mine in northern China, the official news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday.
The accident occurred early on Sunday at the Tunlan Coal Mine in Gujiao city, some 50 km (30 miles) away from Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, when 436 miners were working underground. More than 300 miners managed to escape, the agency reported.
According to the agency, 113 miners were hospitalized, with 21 of them in critical condition. Rescue work is continuing.
China's mining industry is considered one of the world's most dangerous, with accidents killing up to 7,000 workers annually. A major gas blast at Liaoning's Sunjiawan mine in February 2005 killed more than 200 miners, making it the worst mining tragedy in China for at least 15 years.
