At least 12 people have passed away in two separate coal mining incidents in China in the last 24 hours, Channel News Asia reported on Tuesday via Reuters.
One accident occurred in the Zhongyang County, Shanxi province on Monday, when an underground bunker owned by Taoyuan Xinlong Coal Industry, suddenly collapsed just before midnight trapping seven people inside.
Five bodies have been found with two missing as rescue operations are still under way.
According to local sources, mining safety regulators had issued a notice to Shanxi coal bunker last month to limit overproduction to prevent any accidents.
The Shanxi province is China's top coal mine producing region which oversaw a surge in deaths in 2023.
In an another incident, seven people died, while two are still missing following a deadly a gas explosion in Eastern China's Anhui province.
The explosion, which left 24 people in a life threatening situation, occurred at the Xieqiao mine and is owned by the Huaihe Energy Group.
Due to a surge in deaths caused by coal mining incidents, China's mine safety administration updated their existing laws in 2023, which according to an official had "prominent problems”.
Coal mining incidents in China are not rare as only last month, 10 people had been killed in an accident in Pingdingshan in central China, which pushed authorities to carry out safety checks.
Hundreds of protesters hit streets on hikoi, a nine-day march, towards Wellington to protest against legislation
NPP wins 107 seats, receiving almost 62% or 6.8 million votes in Thursday's election
New Delhi and surrounding metropolitan area consistently tops world rankings for air pollution in winter
IAEA chief says achieving "results" in nuclear talks with Iran vital to avoid new conflict in region
Arshdeep Singh Gill was one of the two men arrested and was charged with illegal discharging of a firearm
Experts say target annual figure would need to rise to $1.3 trillion annually by 2035
