Three workers died and 12 were injured when a short circuit triggered a fire at a gold mine in northwest China's Shaanxi Province Thursday, a local safety official said Friday.
The fire was reported at 5:45 p.m. at a mine run by the state-owned Tongguan Gold Corporation in Tongguan County, Weinan City, said a spokesman with the county's work safety bureau.
Twelve of the 15 workers trapped in the pit were pulled out alive at 9:40 p.m., but three suffocated, he said.
The bureau has launched an investigation.
The injured workers were still in hospital Friday. The spokesman said their conditions were stable.
Tongguan County, with a population of 160,000, is rich in gold, silver and other mineral resources. |
