Five Chinese workers among injured in coal mine blast in Malaysia

An injured from a coal mine explosion in Kuching, eastern Malaysia is transfered to hospital, Nov 22, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]

KUALA LUMPUR -- Five Chinese workers were injured Saturday in a coal mine explosion in eastern Malaysia, Chinese consulate in Kuching told Xinhua on Sunday. The explosion has left three persons killed and 29 injured.

All of the Chinese victims come from China's Anhui province, and they all suffered different degrees of burns, an official from the Chinese consulate in Kuching said.The consulate staff has visited the Chinese victims and they will continue to keep in touch with the hospital and the police, she added.

Local reports said Sunday that three foreign workers killed in the explosion have been identified, and the number of the injured has risen to 29.

Malaysian English-language newspaper The Star quoted Sri Aman Police Chief Deputy Superintendent of Police Mat Jusoh Mohammad as saying the deceased were identified as an Indonesian, a Democratic People's Republic of Korean (DPRK) worker and a Myanmar national.

He also said the number of the injured has risen to 29, including nine Indonesians, six Myanmar nationals, five Chinese, seven DPRK nationals and two Bangladeshis.

The explosion occurred in the eastern Sarawak state at 8:45 a.m. local time (0045 GMT) on Saturday when 119 miners were working underground.

Sri Aman Fire and Rescue Department Chief Ranger Moos said the blast happened when a switch for the conveyor belt was turned on, and an extractor fan used for expelling gas out of the tunnel was not working. The sparks from the switch or the defective may have caused the accident.