26 killed in coal mine fire in NE China

A coal mine fire killed 26 workers and injured 50 others in Northeast China's Liaoning province early Wednesday.

Fuxin Coal said the rescue is over and all the injured workers have been hospitalized. Some of the injured are still in critical conditions.

The fire occurred at 2:35 a.m. in a coal mine under Hengda Coal, a subsidiary of the state-owned Liaoning Fuxin Coal Corporation, a major producer in the province.

Before the fire broke out, a 1.6-magnitude quake was monitored at 1:31 a.m. in a city near the coal mine. Local government is investigating connections between the tremor and the fire.

Hengda Coal has halted operation in all of its mines for safety checks. The company employs more than 4,600 people.

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