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Five killed,11 missing in Chinese coal mine blast

BEIJING: A gas explosion in a Chinese coal pit has killed five miners and 11 are missing, state media reported on Saturday, adding to this year's toll in China's deadly mining industry.

The accident happened in the northeastern province of Jilin on Wednesday as miners were attempting to extinguish a fire in the Tong'an coal mine, the China Daily said. Rescue attempts had been thwarted by fires still raging in the pit.

China's coal mines have a disastrous safety record and thousands of miners die in accidents every year.

In the first nine months of 1999, 3,464 coalminers died in accidents. In 1998, the death toll from underground explosions and mine collapses was 2,028.

In the first three weeks of this year alone, mining accidents claimed more than 70 lives.-Reuters