China high-speed railway tunnel explosion, 12 people dead

An explosion at a high-speed railway tunnel under construction in China killed at least 12 people and injured 12 others.

It took rescuers 14 hours to find the workers trapped after the explosion - Photo: AP

According to Xinhua News Agency, the explosion occurred on the afternoon of May 2 at a tunnel under construction in Guizhou province. The incident injured 12 people and trapped 12 others.

More than 2,000 rescue workers were mobilized to rescue those trapped. After 14 hours of searching, by the morning of May 3, they found 12 people trapped but all were dead.

The cause of the explosion is under investigation, but according to some initial sources, the tunnel passed through a coal seam.

Most of the victims were migrant workers, and rescue efforts were hampered by high levels of toxic carbon monoxide (CO) in the tunnel, reports said.

Industrial accidents are common in China, mostly due to failure to strictly comply with safety regulations.

According to the most recent government statistics, the country recorded 66,000 deaths on the job in 2015.

According to Tuoi Tre