Gas leak kills 18 miners in north China

Thirty-four miners were working beneath the shaft at the time.

Eighteen miners have died in an underground gas leak in a north China coal mine.

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A wall collapse opened a permanently closed area beneath the shaft of the Dahuiyao coal mine in Shanxi province on Friday and caused a fire, producing large amounts of toxic gas, the Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

Thirty-four miners were working beneath the shaft at the time. Three of them escaped from the accident site, while rescuers lifted 14 men out, one of whom died in hospital.

The bodies of 17 other miners trapped inside were found later.