Chinese authorities have shut down a state-owned colliery in northeast China and detained top officials after 164 miners died in an explosion, state media reported on Thursday. State-owned Dongfeng coal mine run by a branch of the Heilongjiang Longmei Mining (Group) Co. Ltd., a conglomerate of four major coal firms in northeastern Heilongjiang province, was hit by a blast late on Sunday. The coal mine operator and the party chief of the Dongfeng coal mine were removed from posts and detained by police for investigation, the Beijing News said. The general manager of Longmei Group's Qitaihe branch was also dismissed, Xinhua News Agency said. The death toll includes 162 miners underground and two women who had been working in a generator room at ground level. Seven others were still missing. Xinhua said there were 242 miners underground rather than the previously reported figure of 221.
