China's northern province of Shanxi has ordered all small coal mines to stop work until safety tests are done after 58 miners were killed in gas explosions last week, the official state newsagency said today.
The number cited by the Xinhua agency was higher than estimates given by local newspapers earlier in the day and involved explosions at three separate coal mines in the province.
Fourteen miners were still trapped underground following an explosion at a fourth coal mine named Daquanwan Coal, it said.
The provincial authorities would not allow production to resume until all the small coal mines had safety checks, and offenders would be dealt with harshly, a local official was quoted as saying.
According to the official, the four mines had all been told to cease operations prior to the accidents.
The back-to-back disasters were the latest reminders of the appalling safety record of China's mining industry, the world's biggest.
In a separate report issued today, Xinhua said 13 workers were still trapped after a coal mine flooded with water in the eastern province of Shandong over the weekend.
The government has already closed 11,882 small coal mines in the first 10 months to boost safety.