33 killed in coal mine accident, shipyard explosion in China
At least 33 people, including 28 mine workers, were killed when an electric cable caught fire inside a coal shaft and an explosion rocked a shipyard in two separate incidents in China's northwest and east.
The underground cable caught fire at 8:10 pm local time last night at Xiaonangou coal mine at Sangshuping Township of Hancheng City, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.
All the 28 people working in the mine in northwest China's Shaanxi province were killed in the accident, it said.
Rescuers retrieved remains of five miners on Sunday, the report said.
Mine accidents have become a routine in energy hungry- China due to poor safety standards.
According to official data, a total of 2,631 miners were killed in China last year but independent labour groups say the actual figure could be much higher.
In another incident, five workers were killed in an explosion at a shipyard in east China's Jiangxi Province on Saturday. One worker was still missing.
The accident happened around 2:10 am local time at the Tongfang Jiangxin Shipbuilding Co. shipyard in Hukou County, local safety authorities said.
The cause of the accident is not yet known, Xinhua reported.
The accident victims were workers from Jingcheng Industrial Co., a subcontractor that paints and decorates ships.
Founded in 1966, the shipyard earlier used to be a state-owned firm under China State Shipbuilding Corporation.
Beijing-based Tsinghua Tongfang became the shipyard's owner after reforms in 2006.
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