Death toll rises to 44 in China’s colliery blast

The death toll from Wednesday’s colliery blast in southwest China’s Sichuan Province has climbed to 44, according to an announcement on Sunday by authorities with the city government. On Sunday, rescuers have retrieved one more body. And two miners remain trapped in the Xiaojiawan Coal Mine in Panzhihua City, some 750 km southwest of Chengdu, the provincial capital, according to the press office of the Panzhihua city government, (Xinhua) news agency reported. The mine was struck by a gas blast on Wednesday, trapping about a third of the 154 miners who were working underground and injuring 54 others, 17 of them seriously. Initial investigation has indicated that chaotic management and sheer ignorance of safety measures in the mine, owned by Zhengjin Industry and Trade Co., Ltd., were mainly to blame for the accident.