A gas explosion killed 15 miners in southwestern China, state media reported on Friday, the latest in an all-too-familiar series of accidents to strike the world's deadliest mining industry, said Reuters. Twenty-one miners were working underground when the accident happened late on Thursday in a new mine Renhuai, Guizhou province, Xinhua news agency said. Two workers escaped and four were rescued, Xinhua said, adding that the owner of the mine had fled. China relies on coal for more than two-thirds of its energy consumption and has the world's biggest and most dangerous mining industry, claiming 2,700 lives in the first half of 2005 alone. The government has launched campaigns to clear up the industry and pledged to spend more than 50 billion yuan ($6 billion) to improve safety, but they have had little effect. --More 1304 Local Time 1004 GMT
