By IANS,
Beijing : All six trapped miners in a coal mine gas leak accident in central China’s Hubei province Tuesday were confirmed as dead, Xinhua quoted authorities as saying.
According to the local authorities, the gas leak happened at about 2 p.m. at the Lengjiawan Coal Mine in Zigui County of the Yichang city.
The gas leak had left six miners trapped underground and by 11 p.m. all the trapped miners were found dead and their bodies were retrieved to the ground, said a release.
The mine, once named “a model mine” in Hubei, was operating legally with an annual production capacity of 60,000 tonnes, said Huang Chun, head of the Yichang city department of work safety.
An investigation into the mine accident is underway.
Meanwhile, in a separate coal mine gas leak accident which occurred last Thursday (Nov 17) in southwest China’s Yunnan province, at least 35 of the total 43 trapped miners had died by Tuesday.
The toll risen to 35 after another body was retrieved Tuesday morning from the shaft of the Sizhuang Coal Mine.
Rescuers were busy searching for eight miners still missing in the mine, which is located in Shizong county near Qujing city.