A gas explosion in a coal mine in China killed at least 56 miners, and 92 others listed as missing had only a slim chance of survival, the government said Thursday. The explosion, which the official Xinhua News Agency said occurred Wednesday night in Henan province, southwest of Beijing, was China's deadliest mining accident this year. Some 446 people were at work in the Daping Mine at the time of the explosion and 298 escaped alive, said Sun Huashan, deputy administrator of the State Administration of Work Safety. Xinhua, citing local officials, said 56 miners were confirmed dead and more than 1,000 rescuers was searching for 92 others. "The chances of the workers surviving are rather slim," Sun said at a news conference in Beijing. The cause of the accident was under investigation, said an official reached by telephone at the Henan Province Coal Mine Safety Inspection Bureau.
