Forty miners have died in two separate coal mine explosions in south-western China, authorities said.

Twenty-eight miners were killed in a blast yesterday afternoon at a coal mine in Sichuan province, provincial officials said. They said 108 people were working underground at the time.

Less than 24 hours earlier, another coal mine blast in neighbouring Guizhou province killed 12 people.

China’s mines are the deadliest in the world. Authorities have improved safety in recent years but regulations are often ignored.

AP