18 killed in China coal mine fire

BEIJING - Eighteen miners were killed and nine trapped in a coal mine fire in China, authorities said Wednesday.

At least nine workers were believed to be trapped in the Lisheng Coal Mine in Hunan province where underground cables caught fire Tuesday. About 70 miners were working in the shaft at the time of the incident. Forty-three of them managed to escape, Xinhua reported.

Rescuers retrieved nine bodies from a mining platform in the shaft about 160 metres underground Tuesday night, while a search was on at another mining platform Wednesday, officials said.