Rescuers work at the explosion site of a coal mine in Hegang City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Dec. 17, 2015. The number of people trapped underground after an explosion at a coal mine on Wednesday afternoon has risen to 19, the work safety authority in northeast China's Hegang City, Heilongjiang Province said. [Photo: Xinhua]
The number of people trapped underground after an explosion at a coal mine in northeast China's Hegang City, Heilongjiang Province, has risen to 19.
The explosion happened on Wednesday afternoon.
At the time 52 people were working underground. 33 managed to escape.
It is said the fire brought the underground temperature up to as high as 1,000 degrees Celsius and the concentration of carbon monoxide would make it impossible to survive.
Zhang Qinxiang is the spokesman of Rescue and Command Office.
"Normal concentration of carbon monoxide should not go higher than 24 parts per million, and currently the CO concentration underground is 14,650 parts per million, reaching a level that can cause people to suffocate to death with just one breath."
The fire caused by the blast is still burning after 17 hours.
The rescue mission continues.
