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At least two are
killed in coal mine explosion; 25 rescued
Brazil -- An explosion in a coal mine in southern Brazil
Monday killed at least two workers, while another 25 men
inside were rescued with minor injuries, the company's
chief engineer said.
The
explosion occurred roughly six kilometres inside the
mine owned by Carbonifera Catarinense in the state of
Santa Catarina.
"Rescue teams took a long time to reach the two because
of a lack of oxygen and a heavy accumulation of gas,
smoke and soot," said chief engineer Gerson Ribeiro
Souza.
"When they got there they found the two men dead."
He
said the explosion was likely caused by malfunctioning
welding equipment being used by the two miners inside
the mine.
"They were not buried under tons of coal because the
mine did not collapse, and their bodies were found
intact," Souza said.
The
exact cause of miners' death remains unconfirmed but may
have been asphyxiation, he said.
He
said the other 25 miners survived because they were
further away from the blast.
Two
killed, two missing in coal mine gas blast
China -- Rescuers have retrieved two bodies as of Monday
from a coal and gas blast in a colliery in the central
Hunan Province, a local official said.
But
the location of two other miners who were found to be
missing after the blast in the Xinqiao mine in Lianyuan
City remained unknown, according to Yu Mingting, the
city's Party chief.
Preliminary investigation shows that nine miners working
about 80 meters underground at about 9:30 a.m. on Sunday
were trapped after more than 300 tonnes of coal burst
out from the coal bed, releasing a huge amount of gas.
Rescuers had freed five of the trapped workers in the
first few hours, and are still searching for the
missing.
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