HEGANG, Heilongjiang, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers failed to find the bodies of 12 miners missing after a fire in a coal mine in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province on Saturday.

    A fire broke out at about 3:30 a.m. on Saturday at Fuhua Coal Mine in Hegang, a city in eastern Heilongjiang Province, while 43 miners were underground. Twelve managed to escape, but 31 were trapped.

    Rescuers had found the bodies of 19 of the miners as of 10 a.m. on Monday. Five of the corpses were brought to the surface late on Saturday, according to the rescue headquarters.

    Experts at the site said the 12 trapped miners had little chance of survival as they had been trapped for more than 30 hours, despite continuous work to control the fire, including injecting liquefied carbon dioxide into the mine.

    Rescuers had been forced back by the fire and the increasing toxic gas, including carbon monoxide.

    The mine's owner, manager, a vice manager in charge of production and another in charge of ventilation, and an engineer were in police custody. Their bank accounts had been frozen, Wang Rui, vice mayor of Hegang, said.

    The licensed mine, in Xingshan District of Hegang, belongs to Fuhua Mining Co., Ltd., and has an annual production capacity of 60,000 tons.

    The city has ordered all its coal mines to suspend operation pending inspections. Mine safety authorities are investigating the cause of the blaze.

Five detained over coal mine fire that killed five, trapped 26 in NE China

    HEGANG, Heilongjiang, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Five people were detained in connection with Saturday's coal mine fire which had left five people dead and 26 others missing in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

    The coal mine's investor, the manager, a vice manager in charge of production and another in charge of ventilation, and the engineer were under police control, said Wang Rui, vice mayor of Hegang City. Full story

Death toll rises to 19 in NE China coal mine fire

    HEGANG, Heilongjiang, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers have found another 14 bodies at a coal mine in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, bringing the death toll from a fire on Saturday to 19. 

    Rescuers found the bodies at 1 a.m. on Sunday. The fire was still spreading and the shaft roof over the fire was about to crumble. The density of toxic gases kept increasing, making the rescue work even more difficult, the spokesman said.  Full story

Eight officials held for fatal mine accident in N China

    TAIYUAN, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Eight officials in Xiangfen County in north China's Shanxi Province have been detained for negligence following a fatal mine accident that killed 262.

    The provincial procuratorate confirmed on Saturday the officials included Lian Huizhong, head of the county's Taosi Township, Liang Deling, the township legislature director, Liu Weiguang, the township business office director, and three Xiangfen County Safety Production Supervision Bureau officials. Also held were two county land resources department officials.  Full story