Rescuers wearing headlamps and oxygen backpacks carried dozens of miners to safety Sunday after a gas explosion at a coal-mine in northern China killed at least 74. The blast at the mine, which had for years boasted an exemplary safety record, highlighted the perilous conditions that make China's mining industry the deadliest in the world. At least 74 miners died and 114 others were hospitalized, including six in critical condition making it China's deadliest mine disaster in more than a year, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. Survivors described how they tried to flee along tunnels to escape the choking carbon monoxide, but were overcome by the fumes. “When it happened, I felt a big gust of wind that blew me over,” a miner with tubes coming out of his nose told state broadcaster CCTV from his hospital bed. “I got up and started running to try to get to the surface. After that I don't know what happened.” His name was not given. Rescuers with backpacks attached to breathing equipment and wearing red helmets with headlamps, their faces blackened from the mine, emerged above ground from an elevator to the pit and carried miners on stretchers to waiting ambulances. Some 80 rescuers were deployed to rescue the 436 minters, Xinhua said. Government figures show that almost 80 percent of China's 16,000 mines are small, illegal operations. All the miners who had been trapped underground were found by late Sunday, Xinhua said, citing the rescue headquarters. It was not clear if all the bodies had been recovered.
