Explosion kills Chinese miners

At least 46 miners were killed yesterday when an explosion ripped through a coal mine in central China, state media reported.

The blast hit a mine in Pingdingshan city in the province of Henan, the State Administration of Work Safety said. Seventy-two miners were trapped initially but 26 escaped, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

State broadcaster CCTV reported on its website that many of the deaths were caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.

The report said an investigation was under way into the cause of the blast.