China Daily reports that China's mining industry confirmed the deaths of 24 people suffocated by a build-up of gas in a mine in Henan Province.
Two missing miners were rescued Wednesday from the mine, raising the number of survivors to 19.
The accident occurred at about 22:30 on Tuesday when 43 miners were working underground at the Xingfa Coal Mine in Wenshu Township under the administration of the city of Yuzhou, an official with the General Administration of Work Safety Wednesday.
Seventeen miners managed to ascend safely from the pit.
According to latest data from the General Administration of Work Safety, the nation's top watchdog for work safety, 25 serious colliery accidents, mainly gas explosions, occurred during the first seven months of the year, killing a total of 733 miners.
Although Henan has been the country's second largest coal producing province since 1986, behind Shanxi in North China, most of its collieries suffer from limited scale, poor safety facilities, serious pollution and rampant waste, officials said. Many mines even face the risk of running out of coal.
According to Henan provincial statistics, there are 52 State-owned coal mines and 1,569 small, privately run coal mines in the province.
