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  62 dead, 13 missing in Hebei mine blast    (Xinhua/Chinadaily.com.cn)  Updated: 2005-12-08 10:52  
 An explosion at a coal mine in northern China on Wednesday, killed at 
least 62 workers left another 13 missing, Xinhua News Agency said 
Thursday morning. 
 
 
 
   A survior is 
 rescued out of the Tangshan mine December 7, 2007. 
 [Xinhua] |   The explosion occurred at the 
privately run Liuguantun Colliery in Tangshan, a city in north China's Hebei 
province,the emergency rescue headquarters said Thursday. 
Altogether 104 miners were working in the pit when the blast occurred at 3:30 
p.m. Wednesday. 
As of 8:30 am Thursday, 29 miners have been rescued and are searching with 
all-out efforts for the 13 missing. 
Investigators said the tragedy was caused by gas explosion. 
Li Yizhong, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, and Zhao 
Tiechui, director of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, left Beijing 
Wednesday evening for the accident site to oversee rescue work. 
 The coal mine, formerly state-owned, was privatized in 2002 with designed 
annual production capacity of 300,000 tons.
 
  
The government has shut down thousands of unsafe mines and punished mine 
owners who put profits ahead of lives.   
  
  
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