At least 73 miners have been killed in an explosion at a coal mine in the northern Chinese province of Shanxi.
The state Xinhua news agency reported more than 400 miners were at work underground at the mine, near the Shanxi provincial capital of Taiyuan, when the blast occurred shortly after 2am.
Xinhua said a total of 113 miners were under observation at hospital, including 21 whose injuries were "relatively serious".
The mine, which has an annual capacity of five million tonnes, is operated by the Shanxi Jiaomei Group, according to the agency.
China's mining industry is the world's deadliest, with 3,200 deaths last year.
However, China has said safety is improving, with the number of fatalities from coal mining accidents falling 15% in 2008 compared with the previous year.
Xinhua also reported that the number of accidents had fallen by 19% to 413,700 last year.
