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 BEIJING (AP) - A senior Chinese official charged Monday that illegal operations by a northern China coal mine led to an accident that has trapped as many as 57 miners, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.
Rescuers rushed more pumping equipment to the Xinjing Coal Mine in Shanxi province on Sunday night and raised their estimates of the numbers trapped to 57, from 44, Xinhua said.
Confusion over the numbers was due in part to what officials said was a cover-up of Thursday's accident by mine managers, nine of whom have been detained, and to the mine's illegal practices.
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