Nando Times

Gas kills 9 in Chinese coal mine

The Associated Press

BEIJING (November 26, 2000 5:35 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - Poisonous gas killed nine coal miners in southwest China on Sunday, the latest accident to strike the country's deadly mines, the government's Xinhua News Agency reported.

Miners at the Red Star Coal Mine in mountainous Sichuan province were digging when they hit a pocket of poison gas trapped in the rock, the report said.

The gas filled the tunnel, killing nine. Two miners managed to scramble to safety, the report said.

The 9,000-foot deep mine, the site of a similar accident two years ago that killed six, has been closed for investigation, Xinhua said.

China's mines are the world's deadliest, with little safety precautions observed. Accidents are common, with more than 2,730 miners killed in the first half of the year.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), November 26, 2000