BEIJING--A coal-mine fire in northeastern China killed 24 workers and left 52 others injured on Wednesday, Chinese state media said, in one of the worst accidents so far this year in the country’s accident-prone mining industry.
There were no immediate details on the cause of the fire but mining accidents are common in China, the world’s largest consumer of coal.
Last year, China recorded 589 mining-related accidents, leaving 1,049 people dead or missing, according to the government. But both the number of accidents and fatalities were down more than 24 percent from 2012.
Authorities have sought to shut down small mines, a major source of accidents, in an effort to consolidate the industry.
In June, 22 people were killed in an accident at a coal mine in the southwest city of Chongqing. And 20 people died in April when a coal mine in southwest Yunnan province suddenly flooded, leaving miners trapped.
Rescue operations have ended at the mine, which is located in Liaoning province and operated by a subsidiary of the state-owned Fuxin Coal Corp., the official Xinhua News Agency said. All the injured workers have been sent to hospital, it added.
Hengda Coal, the Fuxin subsidiary that operates the mine, has halted all work at its facilities to conduct safety checks, Xinhua said.
China is the world’s largest coal-producing nation, but its more than 12,000 mines are notoriously deadly.
Some 1,049 people were killed or missing in coal-mining accidents in China last year, compared to 52 deaths over the last decade in U.S. coal-mining disasters, according to data from Chinese and U.S. authorities.
Accidents in Chinese coal mines, most of which are underground shafts, have caused more than 33,000 deaths in the last decade, data from the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety showed.
Government efforts to toughen safety regulations and consolidate smaller coal mines under state-owned operations have reduced death tolls each year since 2000. Coal-mining fatalities in China last year declined by roughly 24% compared with 2012, when 1,384 deaths were recorded.
Wednesday’s fire came after a deadly coal-mine collapse last month in China’s western Xinjiang region, which left 16 people dead and 11 others injured, state media said at the time. In April, at least 26 miners were killed in two separate accidents in the country’s southwest.
Rescue operations have ended at the mine, which is located in Liaoning province and operated by a subsidiary of the state-owned Fuxin Coal Corp., the official Xinhua News Agency said. All the injured workers have been sent to hospital, it added.
Hengda Coal, the Fuxin subsidiary that operates the mine, has halted all work at its facilities to conduct safety checks, Xinhua said.
China is the world’s largest coal-producing nation, but its more than 12,000 mines are notoriously deadly.
Some 1,049 people were killed or missing in coal-mining accidents in China last year, compared to 52 deaths over the last decade in U.S. coal-mining disasters, according to data from Chinese and U.S. authorities.
Accidents in Chinese coal mines, most of which are underground shafts, have caused more than 33,000 deaths in the last decade, data from the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety showed.
Government efforts to toughen safety regulations and consolidate smaller coal mines under state-owned operations have reduced death tolls each year since 2000. Coal-mining fatalities in China last year declined by roughly 24% compared with 2012, when 1,384 deaths were recorded.
Wednesday’s fire came after a deadly coal-mine collapse last month in China’s western Xinjiang region, which left 16 people dead and 11 others injured, state media said at the time. In April, at least 26 miners were killed in two separate accidents in the country’s southwest.