China: Bodies of 17 trapped miners recovered

BEIJING: Rescue teams have recovered the bodies of 17 miners who were trapped underground in a Chinese coal mine last week, state media reported Tuesday.

The miners were trapped when a cage fell after its electric cables caught fire and then snapped in northeast Heilongjiang province.

A total of 256 miners had escaped the smoke-filled mine.

Chinese mines are among the most dangerous in the world due to lax regulations and poor operating procedures.

In recent years, the country has produced more than one-third of the world's annual coal output, but accounted for more than two-thirds of global mining deaths annually, according to the Mining Technology journal.