At least 42 miners were killed and 66 remain trapped 500 metres underground, following a gas blast at a mine in northeast China, state media said on Saturday. The blast ripped through the mine, when there were 528 people at work, state-run Xinhua news agency said. More than 150 rescue workers were already on site, Xinhua said. Rescue teams are attempting to hunt for the trapped miners from an entrance 400 metres from the blast scene, CCTV said. The explosion badly damaged ventiliation system in the mine, making the work for the rescue teams more tricky. Most houses and buildings 20 metres from the mine were partally collapsed, the state media said. Forty-eight people are being treated in a local hospital and one is under critical condition, it added. The Xinxing mine is in Heilongjiang province, which borders Russia. It is owned by the Heilongjiang Longmei Mining Holding Group, and produces 12 million tonnes of coal a year, Xinhua said. Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang is heading to the site of the accident, and Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have issued instructions on the rescue work. More than 3,000 people died in mine floods, explosions, collapses and other accidents in 2008 alone.
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