At least 203 miners have died in northeast China after an earthquake apparently triggered a gas explosion underground.
The catastrophe is China’s deadliest mining disaster since Communist rule began in 1949.
The explosion yesterday afternoon at the Sunjiawan mine in Liaoning province also injured 22 others and trapped 13 people underground, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported.
The cause of the blast, which occurred 242m (794ft) underground, was under investigation. Zhang Yunfu, the vice general manager of the Fuxin mine group, told Xinhua that the explosion occurred about 10 minutes after an earthquake.
President Hu Jintao and other Chinese leaders issued orders for local officials “to spare no effort to rescue those stranded in the mine,” Xinhua said. It said they called for “strict measures”