China mine blast death toll rises to 104

BEIJING, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Chinese rescue teams worked frantically Monday to save four workers trapped in a mine after an explosion that killed 104 miners, authorities said.

The gas explosion Saturday occurred at the Xinxing Coal Mine, a state-run subsidiary of the Heilongjiang Longmei Mining Holding Group in northeast Heilongjiang province. Of the 528 miners working at the time, 420 escaped.

A team of 310 rescuers worked in freezing weather to try to save the four miners trapped about 1,600 feet underground, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier reports said the mining company's monitoring room had received alerts of a sudden rise in underground gas levels 53 minutes before the explosion and orders were issued for all personnel to evacuate the facility.

Among those who escaped, 29 were hospitalized with six of them in critical condition, hospital authorities said.

A carpenter working in the mine for 33 years told Xinhua the mine had never reported an accident before Saturday's blast. The Xinxing Coal Mine has an annual production capacity of 1.45 million tons.

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang, who has been at the scene since Saturday, ordered an investigation of the incident. Authorities have fired the coal mine's general manger, deputy general manager in charge of production safety and the chief engineer, the report said.

The Times of London reported Saturday's incident was China's deadliest mine accident since December 2007, when 105 miners died at a mine in the northern province of Shanxi.

The China Daily reported despite improvements in work safety conditions, mine disasters kill people by the thousands every year. About 3,200 miners died last year.