China mine disasters kill 5286 in 11 months

Fires, floods and other disasters killed 5286 Chinese miners in the first 11 months of this year, but safety in the accident-prone industry is improving, the Government said.

The figures were announced as the death toll in the latest disaster, a coal mine fire in central China, rose to 18.

The industry's death toll so far this year is 8 per cent below the figure for the same period of 2003, the State Administration for Work Safety said.

China's fatality rate per tonne of coal mined is 100 times that of the US.