Experts pinpoint cause of coal mine blast in Shanxi
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-11-09 21:48

Experts have found that illegally-made explosives triggered the coal mine blast in Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province, according to Shanxi Provincial Coal Mine Safety Department.

Five people were held accountable for the accident, which claimed five lives, local police said.

The blast occurred at about 5:00 p.m. on Oct. 25 at Jiuyuan Village Coal Mine as 15 miners were working underground. Five of them were killed, six injured and four survived.

The illegal explosives were stocked inside the mine. It's easy for such explosives to explode abruptly in high temperature and bad ventilation.

The village-owned coal mine had an annual production capacity of 60,000 tons. The local department on production safety sealed up the coal mine in September due to its outdated permits for coalmine ownership.