Coal mine cable cart accident kills 2, injures 24 in east China

Two miners were killed and 24 others injured after the cable carts they were riding in sped out of control in a coal mine shaft Sunday in east China's Shandong Province, local safety authorities said Monday.

Altogether 26 miners were in the cable carts on their way down the shaft when the gear box of the winch broke Sunday morning in the Lianhuashan Coal Mine in Xintai City. The carts raced out of control, throwing some of the workers out, said a spokesman with the provincial coal mine safety supervision bureau.

As of Monday noon, two workers had died in hospital and three of the 24 injured were still in critical condition, according to the spokesman.

Source: Xinhua