Briefly

Coal mine accident leaves 2 dead in Hebei

Two people trapped in a coal mine accident in Hebei province have been confirmed dead, the coal mine company said Saturday. A shaft roof collapsed at 4:42 am on Friday at a mine run by Jizhong Energy Resources Co in the city of Xingtai, leaving two people trapped, according to a statement issued on the company's website. The two were confirmed dead on Saturday. The cause of the accident is being investigated.

Number of UAVs exceeds 1.26 million

The number of unmanned aerial vehicles in China increased 32 percent year-on-year to exceed 1.26 million by the end of last year, data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China shows. UAVs, or drones, flew more than 23 million hours last year, according to the CAAC. The administration has approved the establishment of 17 civil unmanned aviation test zones and three test bases, covering cities, islands and other areas.

Horned toad species found in Guangdong

Chinese researchers have discovered a new horned toad species, which has been named Boulenophrys elongata sp. nov., in the Lianhua Mountains of Guangdong province. The research findings were published in a recent edition of the international academic journal Asian Herpetological Research. The new species was discovered in mountains surrounded by well-preserved subtropical evergreen broadleaf forests. The small toad, which features elongated limbs, differs significantly from known species living in the same area.

Writer Chi Pang-yuan, 100, dies in Taiwan

Chi Pang-yuan, a noted scholar and writer, died on Friday in Taiwan at age 100, according to local media reports. Chi was born in 1924 in Northeast China, left her hometown in 1930 shortly before the Japanese invasion, and drifted across the country due to the ongoing war. In 1947, she moved to Taiwan. She was well known on both sides of the Taiwan Strait for her masterful autobiography The Great Flowing River. The 250,000-character book, published in 2009, recounted her youth on the Chinese mainland and her adulthood in Taiwan, giving a personal account of the history of modern China, particularly during the Japanese invasion.

House fire kills 4, injures 1 in Fujian

Four people were killed and one injured after a house caught fire in Xiamen, Fujian province, early on Saturday, according to the local fire rescue team. The fire broke out at 4:55 am in Houxi township, Jimei district, and was extinguished by 5:42 am. An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway.

Xinhua