Nine killed in China trying to destroy old explosives

Three more employees were injured in the accident

The latest incident follows an explosion at a gold mine in Shandong in January (EPA-EFE)

Nine workers have been killed in a blast in northern China during an operation to dismantle old mining explosives.

Another three employees were injured in the accident in Hebei province on Wednesday, Chicheng county government officials said in a statement posted online on Friday.

An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the accident, the county government said.

The workers had been disposing of expired explosives, which can become unstable and dangerous over time. Reports said the explosives had been stored by a Beijing-based coal mining company.

The accident comes amid a drive to improve safety standards in the country’s mining industry, after two accidents in the southwestern municipality of Chongqing last year killed 39 miners.

Last December, 23 workers died of carbon monoxide poisoning while dismantling equipment in the Diaoshuidong mine. The incident, which was one of the country’s worst recent mining disasters, led authorities to order a crackdown on breaches of mine safety.

The accident followed another carbon monoxide poisoning case in Chongqing that killed 16 miners last September.

Although there have been significant improvements in recent years, China’s mining industry remains one of the world’s most dangerous. Safety has improved in the last 15 years due to authorities enhancing supervision and shutting down smaller mines.

Prior to the overhaul of the industry, China used to record more than 5,000 fatalities each year from explosions, floods and gas leaks.

Despite progress, safety breaches continue to take place driven by high demands for coal and other raw materials.

In January, 10 workers were killed at a gold mine in the northern province of Shandong after poorly stored explosives caused a collapse.

Eleven others were rescued after being trapped underground for two weeks.