China coal mine fire kills 25

AP

MINE RESCUE: At least 25 people have been killed in a fire at a coal mine in China.

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A fire in a coal mine in central China has killed at least 25 workers, and search efforts continued for at least three others trapped underground.

The Xinhua News Agency said underground cables caught fire on Tuesday afternoon at the Lisheng coal mine in Xiangtan city in Hunan province.

The owner of the mine and a senior employee were detained, Xinhua said.

Sixteen more bodies were recovered on Wednesday about 540 metres below the surface, bringing the death toll to 25, it said.

More than 70 workers were underground when the fire started and 43 managed to escape.

Rescue workers were searching for the remaining miners, who were thought to be on another mining platform at least 600 metres underground, Xinhua said.

The fire was extinguished and the ventilation system was restored on Tuesday, so there was a chance that they were still alive, it said.

China's mining industry is the world's deadliest, with most accidents blamed on poor safety as enterprises scramble to feed the country's voracious demand for coal.

In November, 108 miners were killed in a coal mine blast in northeast China. It was the country's worst mining accident in two years.

- AP