A fire that broke out on Wednesday night in a coalmine in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang had trapped some miners, the local work safety bureau said on Saturday, but it could not confirm the exact number of those trapped, according to Xinhua. The provincial authorities learned early on Saturday that a fire had broken out at about 10 p.m. on Wednesday in a pit at Taiyuan Coal Mine, Hegang City, trapping more than 10 workers. The city government confirmed that a fire did occur, but the mine owner insisted that all workers had escaped safely. The provincial work safety administration, however, confirmed that a certain number of miners were trapped on the basis of its own initial investigations. As of Saturday, the fire was still burning and fire fighters had arrived at the scene, the local government said. The provincial work safety administration and the coalmine safety supervision and inspection bureau had sent inspectors to the coal mine and an investigation has begun.
