CHANGCHUN - The deputy manager of a mining company in Northeast China's Jilin province has been taken into custody in relation to a Monday coal mine explosion that killed six people, the company said Tuesday.

Wang Shengyu, deputy manager of Tonghua Mining (Group) Co, Ltd, has been detained by local police, the company said.

The explosion happened around 10 am Monday at the Babao Coal Mine in the city of Baishan.

A mine operator saw smoke coming out of the mine at 8 am Monday and reported it to a principal, who arranged for 21 miners to go into the mine in a rescue operation without asking for instructions or permission first, according to a preliminary investigation.

The explosion killed six people and injured four others. Another 11 people remain missing.

The explosion followed a similar blast that hit the same mine around 10:40 pm last Friday, killing 28 people and injuring 13 others.

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