BEIJING (AP) — Officials say a gas explosion tore through a state-run coal mine in northern China today, killing 42 people and trapping 66 others nearly a third of a mile under ground.
The accident is a blow for the Chinese government, whose large state-owned coal mines are generally considered to be safer than smaller, private ones. The country's mines remain the world's deadliest, despite efforts to close or bring hundreds of them under state control.
Officials say a total of 528 people were working in the mine at the time of the explosion, and that most escaped after the blast.
