17 die in China coal mine blast

BEIJING - Seventeen miners were killed and one was injured in an explosion at a coal mine in central China’s Hunan Province, an official said Sunday.

Dynamite stored at the Shuguang Coal Mine in Rucheng county exploded at about 4 p.m. Saturday, generating huge amounts of toxic gas that killed the miners, said a spokesman with the provincial administration of coal mine safety.

Xinhua news agency said the mine began operations in 1971 and expanded its capacity in 2008.