DATONG, China, April 23 (UPI) -- Twenty-one people were confirmed dead on Thursday in a flooded coal mine in north China.
Chinese news agency Xinhua reported 247 people were at work in the Jiangjiawan Mine in Datong City, when they were hit by water from a ground-level reservoir on Sunday evening.
While 223 miners were able to make it out to safety, 24 remained trapped inside the coal mine until Thursday, when rescuers pulled out four of the trapped miners.
One of the four died in the hospital, while the other three continue to receive treatment.
The Jiangjiawan Mine has an annual production capacity of 900,000 tons.
USA Today reported safety improvements and a coal demand slowdown have led to a lower rate of mine-related fatalities in China.
China is the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, according to The Scientific American, and the world's second-largest economy consumes nearly as much coal as every other country in the world combined.
The China National Renewable Energy Centre along with other organizations published a study on Monday stating that China can move away from dependence on fossil fuels by producing more than 85 percent of its power and 60 percent of its total energy needs from renewable sources.
China is working to reduce its emissions in compliance with a climate pact it signed with the U.S. last November. According to the agreement, Beijing said it would peak its emissions by 2030 or earlier if possible, and increase the use of non-fossil fuels by 20 percent.
