2nd Ld: Colliery Gas Blast Traps 25 Miners in Inner Mongolia

2nd Ld: Colliery gas blast traps 25 miners in Inner Mongolia

HOHHOT, March 13 (Xinhua) — Twenty-five miners were trapped in a colliery gas blast in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the small hours on Monday, the local government said.

Altogether 33 miners were working in the pit when the blast went off at around 4:00 a.m. at Rongsheng Colliery in Jiudonggou Village of Otog Banner in the southwestern part of the region, said an official with the regional public security department.

By 10:00 a.m., eight miners had been saved but the whereabouts of the other 25 remained unknown.

The searching and rescue operations are going on.

Rongsheng Colliery, located in the resource-rich Wuhai City, is a privately-owned mine. Its legal representative Li Zhongfu, 43, is a native of Jixi City in Heilongjiang Province, northeast China.