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Report: Nearly 50 killed or missing in Chinese mine blast

Nineteen miners were killed and 28 are missing in China after a gas explosion in a coal shaft, the Xinhua news agency said on Thursday, marking one of the biggest disasters of the year in the accident-plagued industry.
/ Source: Reuters

Nineteen miners were killed and 28 are missing in China after a gas explosion in a coal shaft, the Xinhua news agency said on Thursday, marking one of the biggest disasters of the year in the accident-plagued industry.

Rescue teams from other mines had been sent to the Xiaojiawan Coal Mine in Sichuan province where 107 miners had been rescued after Wednesday's blast, it reported.

China's mines are the deadliest in the world because of lax enforcement of safety standards and a rush to feed demand from a robust economy. But the death toll from accidents has been falling, government statistics show.

Image: Rescuers prepare to head to search for survivers at a coal mine after a gas explosion in Panzhihua, southwest China's Sichuan province
Rescuers prepare to head to search for survivers at a coal mine after a gas explosion in Panzhihua, southwest China's Sichuan province on August 29, 2012. The latest disaster to hit the country's troubled mining industry has killed 19 miners and trapped 28 underground. Around 150 miners were working underground at the Xiaojiawan mine in the city of Panzhihua in Sichuan province when the blast occurred on August 29 in the afternoon, city authorities said in an online statement. CHINA OUT AFP PHOTOSTR/AFP/GettyImagesAFP

The government work safety watchdog said that 1,973 miners were killed in coal mine accidents last year, according to state media. In 2010, 2,433 people were killed, down from a toll of 2,631 the previous year.

Xinhua said the Xiaojiawan mine was owned by Zhengjin Industry and Trade Co., Ltd. Police were questioning the owner.