China coal mine blast kills 18, with 43 missing

Beijing (ANTARA News) - An explosion at a Chinese coal mine killed at
least 18 people and left 43 missing, the Beijing News reported on
Monday, the latest in an all-too-familiar series of fatal colliery
accidents.

The explosion in Zhenxiong in the southwestern province of Yunnan happened on Sunday morning, the newspaper said.

China`s coal industry is the deadliest in the world, with 2,163 miners
killed in 1,320 accidents in the first seven months of 2007.

In May, a coal mine blast in northern Shanxi province killed 28 people, Reuters reported.(*) END