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Seven missing in Guizhou coal mine fire

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-20 21:02

GUIYANG - Seven people are missing and four are injured after a gas fire in a coal mine in southwest China's Guizhou Province, a local official said Friday.

The methane fire occurred in a private illegal coal mine in Weining County at about 4 p.m. Thursday, said Wu Xuejun, the county head.

The injured were taken to hospital, where they were described as stable.

Rescuers were searching for the missing workers in the shaft.

Rampant illegal mining in the county, about 300 km from the provincial capital of Guiyang, has claimed the lives of many workers in recent years. Another gas fire killed 14 workers in a colliery on May 2, 2006, forcing the then county head to resign.