Gas explosion in Chinese coal mine kills 14

Miners were digging beyond approved limit, district official says

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By HENRY SANDERSON

Associated Press Writer

updated 11:12 p.m. ET April 12, 2008

BEIJING - A gas explosion at a coal mine in northeast China has killed 14 miners, a government official said Sunday.

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The spokeswoman for the district propaganda department said the blast occurred Saturday morning at a mine in Huludao City in Liaoning province when miners were digging more coal than the approved limit.

She said two miners were injured in the blast and two were still missing.

The spokeswoman said her name was Li, but she refused to give her last name.

China's official Xinhua News Agency said the mine was a licensed private coal mine.

China's mines are the world's deadliest, with explosions, cave-ins and floods killing nearly 3,800 people last year.