UPDATES TO ADD LIMESTONE MINE EXPLOSION
By Mahmut Atanur
BEIJING (AA) – Around 20 people are reported to be trapped underground in China after water flooded coal mines in the country’s north and southwest.
State news agency Xinhua reported the country’s top safety watchdog as saying Sunday that 12 miners remain trapped in a flooded mine in the city of Jincheng in Shanxi Province.
Local authorities have said that six people are also trapped after a mine flooded in Shuicheng County in southwest Guizhou Province early Sunday morning.
The State Administration of Work Safety said in a statement on its website that 94 miners were working underground when the accident occurred at the Jincheng pit around 11 p.m. on Saturday (1500GMT).
The accident at the Hongcai Coal Mine occurred around 4 a.m.
Rescues are under way at both pits with local authorities asking them to do everything possible to rescue the men and pinpoint the cause of the tragedy.
“Anyone responsible for the accident must be held accountable,” Xinhua underlined.
Elsewhere, six people were also reported missing and another person injured after a limestone mine explosion early Sunday in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Xinhua reported local authorities as saying that a rescue is underway after the 2 a.m. accident in Uiad Qianqi.
