Twenty miners died Thursday in southwest China in an underground explosion. State media reports a gas leak caused the explosion at the Sizhuang Coal Mine in Qujing city, Yunnan province. Twenty-three miners remain trapped underground.
Xinhua news agency said at least 30 firefighters and 300 medical workers make up the rescue team trying to reach the trapped men. Authorities fear another explosion could happen due to high gas levels.
"Eighteen rescue workers are down in the coal mine, but the high levels of gas could cause an explosion, making it hard to progress with the rescue,'” Tan Xiaopeng, the head of the Qujing fire department, told the China News Service.
Thursday’s explosion comes a week after a mine explosion in the city of Sanmenxia killed 8 miners and left at least 7 others injured.
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