Blast traps 43 miners in China

A blast at a coal mine in northern China has trapped 43 workers underground.

Explosives blew up at the bottom of the shaft at the mine in Luliang in Shanxi province, local officials said.

China's coal mining industry is the deadliest in the world, as mine owners push production beyond safety limits in a rush for profits.

A total of 3,786 Chinese coal miners died in gas blasts, flooding and other accidents in 2007, down 20 per cent from 2006.

Meanwhile, a landslide on a mountain in Luliang buried more than ten workers at a rural brick factory, killing at least seven.

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