24 Workers Dead After Coal Mine Fire In China

A coal mine fire in northeast China killed 24 workers early Wednesday, Channel NewsAsia reported. The fire at a mine in Liaoning also left 52 people injured, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Xinhua reported a 1.6-magnitude tremor had struck near the mine around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, local time, igniting coal dust and leading to the deadly fire.

Rescuers were able to reach everyone trapped inside, sending injured workers to a nearby hospital.

In 2013, there were 589 mining-related incidents, leaving 1,049 people dead or missing, according to the government. However, the number of deaths and accidents were still 24 percent lower than in 2012. Chinese authorities have attempted to shutter small mines where a significant percentage of accidents take place.

Last month, 16 workers were killed when a coal mine collapsed in Xinhua. Twenty-two workers were killed in June in an accident at a coal mine in Chongqing. In April, 20 people died when a coal mine suddenly flooded in the Yunnan province, trapping miners inside.