Skip to main content

A collapse occurs during an illegal mining operation in China, killing 5 people

BEIJING (AP) — A collapse occurred in an illegal mining operation in China on Sunday, killing five people and injuring one other person, Chinese official news agency Xinhua reported.

The incident took place in Huize County in Yunnan province in southwest China at about 4:30 a.m., Xinhua reported. The news outlet did not specify what kind of mine it was.

Rescuers pulled out all six people trapped at the site in Baiwu village and sent them to the hospital, but five of them succumbed to their injuries. The survivor was in stable condition, the report said.

Authorities were investigating the cause of the collapse.

Just more than a week ago, the country was hit by its deadliest coal mine explosion in recent years, which killed at least 82 people in China’s northern Shanxi province. Local officials earlier said there were “serious violations” of the law by that mine’s operator.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
Read Next Story

Related News

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

Police warn families of Tiananmen crackdown dead not to visit graves on 37th anniversary

Women are the first caregivers in this Ebola outbreak and the most at risk