44 Dead, 21 Trapped in China Mine Blast

At least 44 miners were killed and 21 remained trapped underground after a gas blast ripped through a coal mine in northern China. The official Xinhua News Agency said the pre-dawn blast occurred while 436 workers were in the Tunlan Coal Mine in Gujiao city near Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province.

The Shanxi Jiaomei Group is China's largest producer of coking coal, with 28 mines. Although China has worked to cut mine accidents by closing more than a 1,000 small, dangerous mines last year, the country's mining industry is still the world's deadliest. About 3,200 workers died in accidents last year. (More mine disasters stories.)