Shaanxi mine blast kills 25, traps 144

Some 144 miners were reported trapped Sunday after an early morning explosion killed 25 at the state-owned Chenjiashan coal mine in Tongchuan, Shaanxi province. Of 293 workers first reported underground, 123 had been rescued, according to Xinhua, but communications with those who remained trapped had been cut off. Indications from smoke pouring through air vents suggested the explosion occurred five miles from the mine head. Escaping miners were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning. Henan province, which has been hit recently with more deadly mine explosions this month and last, holds the record for China's deadliest coal-mine disaster on record, at Daping Mine, where 148 miners died four years ago.