BEIJING, Dec 9 (AFP) - A gas explosion at a Chinese coal mine trapped 37 miners underground on Thursday, official media reported.
About 34 other miners escaped when the blast ripped through the mine in the northern province of Shanxi, Xinhua news agency said, quoting local workplace safety authorities.
The accident comes less than two weeks after a blast at a coal mine in Shaanxi province killed 166 people in the country's worst mining accident in recent years.
Thursday's blast happened at Nanlou township in Yuxian county near the city of Yangquan.
The mine produces 150,000 tons of coal a year and was licensed to operate, Xinhua quoted the provincial supervision center of coal mine safety as saying.
Rescue efforts were underway.
China, the world's biggest producer and consumer of coal, has significantly increased production in the past year to meet the demands of rapid industrialization. Critics and miners say lives are being sacrificed.
More than 7,000 workers are killed each year in China's coal mines, considered the world's most dangerous. Labour rights groups say the real figure could be around 20,000 as many accidents are unreported.
Another gas explosion in October killed 148 miners in central Henan province.
12/09/2004 13:49 GMT - AFP