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| India explosion 'kills 30 miners' | |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| Thirty miners trapped by an explosion in a coal mine in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand have been found dead, according to officials. | |
| A search for more than 20 others at the Bhatdih colliery is continuing, but hopes for their survival are bleak. | |
| Sources at Bharat Coking Coal Limited, which owns the mine, say they would have had to contend with poisonous gases released after the explosion. | |
| Jharkhand, with India's largest coal deposits, has had other such accidents. | |
| This is an unprecedented situation and the chances of their survival are zero Partha Bhattacharya Bharat Coking Coal Limited | This is an unprecedented situation and the chances of their survival are zero Partha Bhattacharya Bharat Coking Coal Limited |
| The BBC's Salman Ravi in the Jharkhand state capital, Ranchi, says only five miners who were working at the upper levels of the 460m-deep (1,500-foot) mine in western Jharia region have emerged after an explosion rocked the mine on Wednesday evening. | The BBC's Salman Ravi in the Jharkhand state capital, Ranchi, says only five miners who were working at the upper levels of the 460m-deep (1,500-foot) mine in western Jharia region have emerged after an explosion rocked the mine on Wednesday evening. |
| "The explosion was so powerful that I was thrown off my feet and I saw a trolley loaded with coal get ripped apart and break up," said Nunu Lal, a miner who managed to come out. | "The explosion was so powerful that I was thrown off my feet and I saw a trolley loaded with coal get ripped apart and break up," said Nunu Lal, a miner who managed to come out. |
| Officials said the cause of the explosion is unclear. | Officials said the cause of the explosion is unclear. |
| Coal fires | Coal fires |
| Rescue work has been badly affected because of the high levels of carbon monoxide and methane gas in the mine. | |
| "This is an unprecedented situation and the chances of their survival are zero," Bharat Coking Coal Limited chairman Partha Bhattacharya told Reuters news agency. | "This is an unprecedented situation and the chances of their survival are zero," Bharat Coking Coal Limited chairman Partha Bhattacharya told Reuters news agency. |
| Mine disasters are common in mineral-rich Jharkhand state, home to a host of old, state-owned coal mines. | |
| In the Jharia area, where Wednesday's blast took place, mining work has been affected by underground fires that have raged since 1916, reports say. | In the Jharia area, where Wednesday's blast took place, mining work has been affected by underground fires that have raged since 1916, reports say. |
| Experts say the fires have been caused by unscientific and illegal mining. | Experts say the fires have been caused by unscientific and illegal mining. |
| Mine workers have died after mines have collapsed because of flooding in the past. | |
| Accidents also happen when villagers enter abandoned mines to pick up coal - in August, between 30 and 40 people were trapped inside a mine after water from the nearby Damodar river flooded it. | Accidents also happen when villagers enter abandoned mines to pick up coal - in August, between 30 and 40 people were trapped inside a mine after water from the nearby Damodar river flooded it. |
| There have been other accidents when the mines have simply caved in. | There have been other accidents when the mines have simply caved in. |
| The state's worst mine collapse occurred in 1975, when nearly 400 miners were killed. | The state's worst mine collapse occurred in 1975, when nearly 400 miners were killed. |