A blast has hit northern China’s Inner Mongolia region, an official Xinhua news agency has said.According to reports, many miners are trapped but details on the rescue mission and numbers left inside were not given.
The blast comes after 21 people died in a coal mine blast in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, on Friday.
At least 22 workers were trapped underground at the private coal mine in Qitaihe city.
Express UK reports that the incidents raise further questions over action being taken to protect workers in a country with a poor record of industrial safety.
Coal accounts for almost two-thirds of China’s energy consumption, but its mines are among the world’s deadliest, due to lax enforcement of safety standards.
China has ordered all of the country’s coal mines to conduct a safety overhaul in the past month, the deputy director of the country’s work safety watchdog said on Friday.
A flurry of accidents have alarmed regulators over the past month as China ramps up coal production to meet winter demand.
Thirty-three people were reported dead in a gas explosion at a coal mine in the southwestern city of Chongqing on October 31.
