A gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China has killed 17 miners and left dozens missing, state media reported today.
The blast hit the Jiaojiazhai mine in coal-rich Shanxi province on Sunday, Xinhua news agency said, blaming violations of safety regulations on a day when Beijing also announced that deaths in the country's mines soared in October.
Another 346 miners working underground at the time of the blast managed to escape.
Efforts to reach the trapped miners were impeded by dense gas and collapsed tunnels, the report said.
The mine belonged to the Shanxi Tongmei Group, and was known for its high accumulation of gas, according to the China News Service.
China is struggling to meet booming demand for coal, which fuels about 70 per cent of its energy consumption.
In the rush for profits, safety regulations are often ignored, production is pushed beyond limits and dangerous mines that have been shut down are reopened illegally.
Accidents in China's coal mines killed 345 miners in October, a toll that was nearly 50 per cent higher than the previous month, despite years of government pledges to improve standards in the world's deadliest mining industry.