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![Rescue workers were quickly at the scene of the blast at the Baoma Mining Co. late Saturday [Xinhua]](http://thebricspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/261149219_8-e1480928718783.jpg)
Rescue workers were quickly at the scene of the blast at the Baoma Mining Co. late Saturday [Xinhua]
This was the second such mining accident in a week.
State news agency Xinhua reported that 149 workers from a total of 181 were rescued while the rest remain trapped underground.
The explosion happened around midday at Baoma Mining Co. Ltd., sources with the regional work safety authority and the city government of the city of Chifeng confirmed, however the cause of the blast remains unknown.
Yang Huanning, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, announced that an investigation had been launched while safety officials in Chifeng had been suspended pending the outcome of the probe.
This is the second mining disaster in China this week, as 21 people died in a coal mine blast in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang on Friday.
In October, a similar blast killed 18 people in the Northwestern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Officials blamed illegal mining for the incident.
Chinese authorities have lately been clamping down on small mining companies in a bid to route out illegal practice and upgrade safety precautions.
The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies
