Twelve miners trapped in Saturday's colliery fire in
southwestern Guizhou Province were confirmed dead, according to the
local rescue headquarters Tuesday.
"Though the burning fire at the mouth of the shaft was put out
on Sunday morning, the miners are impossible to survive from the
high temperature and toxic gas," said an official with the
provincial supervision administration on coal mine work safety.
Guizhou Provincial Coal Mine Safety Bureau released that the
fire broke out at about 11:20 PM Saturday at the Xiangshui Coal
Mine located at the Panxian County of Liupanshui City.
Investigation showed that an abnormally large quantity of gas
spilled underground caused the fire, said the official who declined
to give his name, according to Xinhua.
Further investigation into the accident is underway.
(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2005)
