At least 15 gold miners at an illegal operation in Zimbabwe were killed when a mine shaft collapsed.
The accident occurred at an abandoned mine at Mhondoro, 125 km southwest of Harare, according to reports in the state-controlled Herald newspapers. It was seven days before the disaster was made public.
At presstime, authorities were trying to determine exactly how many miners were killed. It is believed to be the country’s worst mining disaster since 1972, when 418 people were killed in an underground explosion.
At presstime, rescue teams in the northern Chinese province of Shanxi were searching for 19 coal miners trapped after an underground fire.
The fire was apparently started by a faulty power cable in the main shaft of the Chiyu mine in Huozhou City.
Local police were searching for the manager of the mine, who allegedly fled the scene after the accident.
The official Chinese news agency, Xinhua, said the city authorities have ordered all coal mines to stop production for safety checks.
More than 3,500 miners have died in accidents in China this year.
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