At least 34 miners have been killed and 21 left missing in north China after a cave-in at a Hebei gypsum mine and a Shanxi colliery gas blast, while six who had been trapped after a coal mine cave-in in central China's Hunan Province have been rescued.

Eighteen have been confirmed dead after the cave-in at Kangli Gypsum Mine in Shangwang Village of Xingtai City in Hebei Province, according to the city government today.

The collapse took place at around 7:20 PM yesterday, and also triggered the collapse of residential buildings at two adjacent gypsum mines.

About 20 others were reported by Xinhua News Agency to be trapped underground, and rescuers have rescued 19 others so far.

Rescuers said the death toll and numbers trapped were estimated and could go up. Provincial government officials have rushed to the site to direct rescue work.

The gas explosion at Taiping Coal Mine, Qingxu County in Shanxi's provincial capital Taiyuan, took place at about 5:00 AM on Sunday, according to the province's coal mine safety department.

Sixteen miners were killed.

The mine is legal and township-owned with an annual output of 60,000 tons, said local authorities.

After the cave-in at Hongshu Coal Mine in Hunan's Lengshuijiang City at about noon yesterday seven miners were initially reported to be trapped, but the number was later corrected to six.

All of them, including the mine owner, were able to walk unaided from the mine seven hours later and are in good condition, according to Yi Zhen, vice mayor of Lengshuijiang.

The causes of all three incidents are under investigation.

(Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn November 7, 2005)