A gas explosion in a northern Chinese coal mine on Saturday trapped 70 miners, the Xinhua news agency said. The blast hit the Xishui Colliery near the city of Shuozhou in Shanxi province at about noon, Xinhua said. "Forty-nine miners were trapped, and 21 miners of a neighbouring coal pit owned by another mine were also buried because the blast caused the collapse of the coal mine wall," Xinhua said. Provincial Governor Zhang Baoshun was on his way to the scene to direct rescue and investigation work, it said. The Xishui mine had annual output of 150,000 tonnes a year, it said, but gave no further details.
