Seventeen Chinese miners are still missing after rescue workers winched 66 bodies from a mine shaft in the northwest of the country after a gas explosion yesterday.
The blast, the latest to strike the world's deadliest mining industry, enveloped the Shenlong Coal Mine, 60
kilometres from Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, early on Monday morning.
Last year, more than 6,000 miners in China were killed in explosions and accidents nationwide.
In the first six months of this year, China reported four accidents in which more than 30 people died in each.
China has pledged to clean up the industry, but with the economy reliant on coal for about 70 per cent of its energy needs, it has proved an uphill battle.
China produces about double the amount of coal official media say it can safely mine.
