At least 38 people were killed in two separate Chinese coal mine blasts in the last five days, according to death tolls reported by state media Saturday.
In the first incident, authorities confirmed on Friday night that 21 people died after a coal mine blast at a private coal mine in Qitaihe City, in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, the official Xinhua news agency said.
The blast occurred late Tuesday, trapping 22 workers underground, Xinhua news agency said. Rescue work continues to reach the one person left trapped.
Twenty-one were confirmed dead Friday night, it said, citing provincial authorities.
Rescue efforts were hampered by debris from the blast in some of the tunnels, according to an earlier report.
In a separate incident, a mine in northern China’s Inner Mongolia region was struck by a coal mine explosion that left at least 17 dead, according to figures from local authorities. The incident took place on Saturday. An unspecified number of miners were still buried under the ground and rescue efforts were underway, Xinhua said.
At least 33 miners were killed in a colliery explosion on Oct. 31 in the southwestern municipality of Chongqing, and in September at least 18 were killed in a mine blast in the northwestern Ningxia region.
China is the world’s largest coal producer. Coal accounts for almost two-thirds of China’s energy consumption, but its mines are among the world’s deadliest, where accidents are common due to lax enforcement of safety standards. 
Officials say the number dying annually in the country’s mines has fallen substantially in the past decade, to fewer than 1,000 a year.
But some rights groups argue the actual figures are significantly higher due to under-reporting in a sector with poor oversight.
China has ordered all of the country’s coal mines to conduct a safety overhaul in the past month, the deputy director of the country’s work safety watchdog said on Friday.
A flurry of accidents have alarmed regulators over the past month as China ramps up coal production to meet winter demand.

Source: Arab News