China mine blast death toll rises to 62 - state TV
Date: 27-Mar-03
Country: CHINA
Ten people were missing and rescue work was under way at the Mengnanzhuang mine, China Central Television said.
The cause of the explosion was still under investigation.
A Hong Kong-based labour rights group said a team of miners had tried to leave an hour before the blast after a build-up of toxic gases in the mine shaft but was ordered back to work.
The group said the coal mine should not have been operating after local authorities shut it down in January for safety reasons. One of the owners had been taken into police custody for questioning, it added.
The gas explosion was the third to kill more than 10 people in Shanxi since February, prompting the provincial government to halt all coal mining operations from Sunday, the official Xinhua news agency has said.
China's mining industry is the world's largest but also its deadliest. About 7,000 people were killed in mining accidents last year.
