BEIJING (AFP) — Rescuers were struggling on Sunday to extinguish a three-day-old fire in a northern China coal mine that has killed three miners and left another 15 missing, state media reported.
The latest deadly accident in China's notoriously dangerous mining sector began on Wednesday night, when an underground cable apparently caught fire, igniting the blaze in Shanxi province, Xinhua news agency said.
Three bodies were pulled from the Huquangou mine on Thursday but another 15 miners remain unaccounted for and their fate was unknown as rescuers could not get far enough into the mine due to the blaze, officials told the agency.
"It is not clear whether the 15 trapped miners are still alive or not, and the fire is yet to be quenched," said Wang Xingui, an official in charge of the rescue effort.
China's coal mines are among the most dangerous in the world as owners often cut corners on safety to maximise output at the collieries, many of which are unlicensed.
Xinhua said the Huquangou mine's licences were in order.
A mine in eastern Shandong province flooded in August in one of the worst recent accidents. Officials early this month said the 172 miners trapped by the flood were probably dead.
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