A blast at a Chinese coal mine killed 17 people today, the official Xinhua news agency said, the most recent in a series of accidents to strike the world's deadliest mining industry.
The explosion happened in the northern region of Inner Mongolia, Xinhua said in a brief report, citing the local government. Five other remained missing, the agency said.
Nine miners were also killed in another colliery explosion today in the northeastern Heilongjiang province. Seven other miners were still missing, but were thought to have little chance of survival, Xinhua said.
Colliery floods, blasts and other disasters killed nearly 6,000 miners across the country last year.