Society

Death toll rises to 9 in NW China gold mine fire

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-10-15 21:54

XI'AN -- The death toll from a gold mine fire in northwest China's Shaanxi Province rose to nine Friday afternoon after six of the 12 injured miners died in hospital, local safety authorities said.

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A short circuit triggered a fire at 5:45 pm Thursday at a gold mine of the state-owned Tongguan Gold Corporation in Tongguan County, Weinan City, said a spokesman with the county's work safety bureau.

Three of the 15 working miners suffocated and the remaining twelve were pulled out alive and sent to the hospital.

As of 5:30 pm Friday, six of the hospitalized miners were dead. The other six were still receiving treatment, however it was not yet known what their condition was, said the spokesman.

Tongguan County, with a population of 160,000, is rich in gold, silver and other mineral resources.