Fifteen miners have been confirmed dead following Saturday's gas explosion in a coal mine in Linfen, a city in central Shanxi Province, north China, officials said Sunday, according to DPA. Rescuers were battling heavy smoke in efforts to save 15 other miners trapped in the shaft, the official Xinhua news agency reported. "Thick smoke inside the shaft makes it very difficult for us to go down to look for those still trapped," said one rescuer. The explosion occurred around 1:50 pm Saturday at Pudeng Coal Mine in Kecheng Township of Puxian County while 125 miners were working in the shaft, Xinhua reported. Ninety five miners escaped, of whom 23 were injured, one in serious condition. But 30 others were trapped underground, according to a press release issued by Shanxi Provincial Bureau of Work Safety on Sunday. Bureau sources told Xinhua the coal mine had been ordered to suspend production, but did not give specific reasons. Mine operators had resumed production without proper permits. "Other problems with the coal mine are that its mining operation was in a mess and poor management," said the provincial work safety watchdog. Local police have put under surveillance the coal mine owner, the official in charge of production and several of the managerial staff. The cause of the explosion was still being investigated. Pudeng Coal Mine produces 150,000 tons annually.
