The actual number of miners who had been trapped beneath the ground in a fire disaster that spread to five iron mines in Shahe City, north China's Hebei Province, should be 116 instead of the 106 reported before.
The revision was made on Tuesday by the leading group put in charge of rescue operation for the blaze in the five iron mines that caught fire Saturday morning in Shahe City, north China's Hebei Province.
Up to now, 57 had been confirmed dead, 51 miners have been rescued alive. But eight others remained missing.
Miners killed in the disaster, most of whom succumbed to suffocation, were either locals or from the underdeveloped Guizhou Province in southwest China and Shaanxi Province in northwest China.
Preliminary investigation shows that the fire broke out due to electronic cable self-ignition in one iron mine. The fire spread quickly to four other iron mines which were all connected. Heavy smog soon trapped 116 miners.
Search for the missing is sill going on.
(Xinhua News Agency November 23, 2004)
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