Gas explosions or burning gas are believed responsible for incidents in collieries on Monday and Tuesday, which killed eight miners and trapped another dozen, work safety authorities revealed yesterday.

Another 24 miners were injured.

Three people were confirmed dead, 12 were missing and only nine escaped disaster on Tuesday at the bankrupt Wan'gou Coal Mine in Northeast China's Jilin Province, said an official from the State Administration of Work Safety.

A rescue mission was launched after the fatal explosion, in addition to a full investigation.

Vice-Governor Jiao Zhengzhong has rushed to the site to co-ordinate rescue operations. On Monday at the privately owned Huajiazhuang Coal Mine in Huangling County in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, 62 miners were working beneath a shaft when disaster struck, according to Li Shude, head of the Huangling County Work Safety Bureau.

Four people died at the scene and a fifth passed away soon after in a nearby hospital, Li said. A total of 24 miners are getting treatment in hospital in the city of Tongchuan.

The cause of the blast is not clear but was probably a gas explosion or burning gas, Li said.

There are 44 coal mines in Huangling County, sources said. Besides the three county-owned ones and eight closed collieries, the others are privately owned by local residents.

When analyzing the reasons behind the frequent accidents, administration spokesman Huang Yi said more than half of China's collieries are gas-intensive mines and up to 80 per cent of the accidents are caused by explosions.

In addition, the backward production methods and facilities of most of the private mines amplify risks to miners, he said.

Moreover, a lot of coal miners and owners have little work safety knowledge.

The constant coal mining accidents, which kill more than 7,000 people each year, have made the industry infamous in China.

Huang stressed the overall work safety situation had taken a turn for the better in recent years after the Chinese Government adopted a series of measures to reduce the number of accidents.

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