Coal mine collapse leaves 11 dead in northwest China

BEIJING

Chinese teams recovered Thursday the bodies of 11 people who were trapped after a coal mine collapsed in northwestern Shaanxi province.

State news agency Xinhua cited authorities in Shenmu County as saying that two victims of Wednesday’s accident were found Thursday morning, and the remaining nine by 1.30 p.m. (0730GMT).

Rescuers had been working to improve ventilation at the privately owned Liujiamao Coal Mine, from where 38 of the 49 miners underground managed to escape after a pit collapse.

Efforts had been hindered by the high concentration of poisonous gas at the site.

While authorities are investigating the accident at the mine, which rescuers said was operating under testing, a preliminary investigation report suggested that a cavity caused by the extraction of coal had given way.

Its owner has been placed in custody.

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

The country produces more than one-third of the world's annual coal output, but accounts for more than two-thirds of global mining deaths annually, according to Mining Technology.

In August last year, 13 people died after a gas explosion at a coal mine in southwestern Guizhou province, while in Dec. 2014 a similar explosion in northeastern Heilongjiang left 10 miners dead.