Gas leak kills 24 miners

2005-08-03 08:02

Beijing - At least 24 coal miners suffocated to death when gas leaked into a pit in central China, the government said on Wednesday.

Two miners are missing after the leak late on Tuesday at the Zhenxingfa coal mine in Yuzhou city in Henan province, the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety said on its website.

Forty-three miners were in the pit at the time and 17 survived, it said.

China has some of the deadliest mines in the world with about 2 700 fatalities in the first half of the year, according to official figures.

Independent estimates say the real figure could be far higher as mines often falsify death tolls to escape closures and fines.

- AFP