25 dead or missing in coal mine explosion
An explosion in a northeastern coal mine left 18 workers dead and 7 missing, the State Administration of Work Safety said Tuesday. The blast occurred Monday at the Baijiagou Mine in Faku County, Liaoning Province, it said, and 56 miners escaped without injury. Officials said last month that safety had improved, though China's mines remained the world's most dangerous. The death toll for each million tons of coal produced fell to 1.05 people in the first half of2008, compared to 1.485 for all of 2007 and 3.08 for 2005, officials said.