BEIJING • A coal mine explosion killed 15 people in north China's Shanxi province, state media reported yesterday.

Nine other people were injured by the gas explosion, which took place on Monday afternoon in a mine owned by Shanxi Pingyao Fengyan Coal & Coke Group Co, according to official news agency Xinhua.

Xinhua reported that 35 miners were working underground when the blast happened, but 11 miners managed to escape.

The injured miners were in stable condition, Xinhua said.

Mr Shen Xuping, an official at the Shanxi Administration of Coal Mine Safety, said yesterday that the accident revealed a "lack of awareness of the rule of law and chaotic management" by the company involved, local media reported.

Mr Shen said the accident was caused by activity that "broke the law and regulations", although the authorities are still investigating the exact cause.

Deadly mining accidents are common in China, where the industry has a poor safety record.

At a meeting last week, the State Council - China's Cabinet - ordered a "special crackdown on production-related safety issues" to "further improve workplace safety", Xinhua reported.

In December last year, seven miners were killed in south-western Chongqing municipality after the connecting segment of a mining skip broke and fell down a mine shaft.

In October the same year, 21 miners died in eastern Shandong province after pressure inside a mine caused rocks to fracture and break, blocking a tunnel and trapping the workers underground.

Only one miner was rescued alive.

In December 2016, explosions at two separate coal mines in the Inner Mongolia region and in north-eastern Heilongjiang province killed at least 59 people.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE