A gas explosion at a coal mine in south-western China's Sichuan province left at least 19 people dead and 28 trapped, dpa quoted state media as saying on Thursday. The explosion ripped through a shaft late Wednesday at the Xiaojiawan Coal Mine in Sichuan's Panzhihua city as 154 miners were working underground, the semi-official China News Service said. A total of 104 miners escaped from the shaft about two hours later, but three of them died in hospital, the agency reported from Panzhihua. Rescue teams pulled out six more survivors and were trying to reach the 28 miners still trapped, it said. Other reports said police had detained the mine owner for questioning.
