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Fire traps over 30 in NE China coal mine, 5 dead

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-09-20 14:16

HARBIN -- Rescuers found the bodies of five workers, who were among more than 30 miners trapped in a coal mine accident early Saturday morning in Hegang City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

Rescuers said a fire suddenly broke out under the mine shaft at around 4 a.m., when 44 miners were working underground.

About a dozen miners managed to escape and told rescuers that more than 30 miners might be trapped in the mine.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

The mine is owned by the Fuhua Mining Co. Ltd., a privately-owned business.