Coal mine blast kills 12 workers in China

The explosion occurred at 4 am and trapped the 33 miners working in the pit.

An explosion tore through a coal mine in northern China on Monday, killing 12 workers, the government said, as rescuers rushed to save another 11 in a shaft hundreds of kilometers south.

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The blast in Rong Sheng Coal Mine in Jiudonggou, a village in Inner Mongolia, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The explosion occurred at 4 am and trapped the 33 miners working in the pit, Xinhua said. Twelve were rescued and nine more remained trapped, it said.

In another incident, 11 workers were trapped after an explosion ripped through a mine in Yongxing County in the central province of Hunan, Xinhua said.

Rescuers were not able to enter the mine because of the high density of gas underground, it said.