An explosion at an illegally operated mine in Henan, China's third-largest coal producing province, killed 46 miners today, while another 26 narrowly escaped, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Among the survivors, six were seriously burned in the blast, added the China News Service.
The 72 miners were trapped after stored explosives blew up at the Xingdong No.2 Mine in Weidong district of Pingdingshan in the central province of Henan, Xinhua said. The cause of the blast is not yet known.
Police have already detained the "responsible people", it added, without providing further details.
The mine owners had been ordered by the local government to stop production after their mining permission expired on June 6, but had illegally reconnected the electricity that had been cut off and resumed working, it said.
Henan produced 208 million tonnes of coal in 2008, nearly 10 per cent of the country's total output.
Last year, Pingdingshan ordered all 157 coal mine shafts within its district to close, after a mine explosion killed 35 people in September.
Due to strong demand for energy in a booming economy and lax safety standards, thousands of people are killed in China's mines every year, despite government pledges to shut or consolidate many small or unsafe operations to help cut accidents.
The number of people killed in coal mines dropped to 2,631 in 2009, an average of seven a day, from 3,215 in 2008, according to official statistics.
Reuters