Thirty-seven miners died from gas inhalation in a coal mine in central China early yesterday, state media said.
The deaths occurred in the pre-dawn hours in a coalmine near the city of Dengfeng, Henan Province, Xinhua news agency said.
The report said 108 miners had been underground at the time of the “gas outburst.” Sixty-four of them escaped, and seven others were later rescued.
Five miners were confirmed dead and at least 26 others were trapped when a fire broke out on Saturday in a coal mine in northeastern China, the China News Service reported earlier.
That accident occurred in the city of Hegang in Heilongjiang Province.
The local work safety authority had not posted an update on that accident on its Web site yesterday.
Meanwhile, a blaze and subsequent stampede at a club in Shenzhen killed 43 people and left 88 injured, state media said yesterday.
The fire broke out at around 11pm on Saturday at the Dance King nightclub, Xinhua said.
The fire was triggered by fireworks set off during a performance on the club’s third floor that was attended by hundreds of people, reports said.
“According to a preliminary investigation, the accident was caused when fireworks were set off in the song and dance hall, triggering a fire,” the China News Service.
The toll may have been compounded by the fact that those seeking to escape were forced to exit through a narrow passageway, Xinhua said.
“There was only a narrow aisle ... in the hall. Many people got hurt in the stampede,” club staffer Yang Zhi was quoted by Xinhua as saying.
Yang doused his clothes in water before fleeing but still suffered burns on his neck, it said.
Of those injured, 51 were in hospital in stable condition, Xinhua news agency said.
Photos posted on the popular Chinese online portal Sohu showed apparently grieving relatives gathered outside the club during the night.
State TV footage yesterday showed investigators and police combing the scene.
It showed limited damage to the exterior of the club.
In an indication authorities feared public anger over the fire, Guangdong Province Communist Party Secretary Wang Yang (汪洋) ordered that victims’ families be “appeased” and “social stability” maintained, the China News Service said.
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