A gas leak in a China coal mine killed at least one worker and trapped five more Saturday, just hours after a fire in a gold mine killed 16, AP reported The gas leak happened Saturday morning at the mine in Shifang city in the southwestern province of Sichuan, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. The report said the leak at the mine run by Hongda Red Star Mining Co., Ltd. was the third gas leak at a China coal mine this week. In a separate accident, a fire killed 16 at the Lingnan Gold Mine in Zhaoyuan city in the eastern province of Shandong. The fire initially trapped 50 miners, but the rest were rescued. China Central Television footage Saturday showed one rescued miner, shirtless, covering his eyes with a towel as he and others walked out of an elevator at the mine shaft entrance.
