105 die in Shanxi coal mine gas explosion

A gas explosion at the Ruizhiyuan coal mine in northern China's Shanxi province has left 105 people dead. The cause of the blast is still unknown.

Allegedly the managers of the mine initially tried to avoid having to report the accident by trying to conduct rescue operations themselves. This led to a six-hour delay in proper rescue efforts that magnified the number of casualties.

About 120 men were working in the mine shaft at the time of the accident on Wednesday night, AFP writes. Fifteen people were able to escape from the blast.

On Friday, it was still unclear how many people were missing, according to spokeswoman An Yuanjie from the State Administration of Mine Safety. Rescuers say that any who remained underground were likely to be dead.

Chinese media wrote Friday that the managers of the mine are being held responsible for the accident, because they had sent miners to work in an unauthorized area in order to extract more coal than their license allowed, according to AFP.

Some of the people involved in the initial rescue work were among those unaccounted for on Friday says An Yuanjie.

The director of the mine and its legal representative are being held in custody.

More accidents take place in China's coal mines than anywhere else in the world. Last year, 4,746 workers died in 2,845 accidents, although the actual figure is believed to be closer to 20,000, as mine operators often fail to report accidents in fear of penalties.

In March, the State Administration of Mine Safety launched an ongoing mine safety campaign. The project entitled Strengthening Coal Mine Safety Capacity in China is supervised by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and aims to improve the regulations regarding work safety in mines, as well as promote safer mining techniques and provide training on accident prevention for miners and their families in the provinces of Anhui, Guizhou, Henan, Liaoning and Shanxi.

Around 70 percent of China's energy needs come from coal.