Death Toll at 68 in China Mine Fire

BEIJING (AP) -- Emergency workers on Friday pulled three more bodies from the site of a massive mine fire in northern China last week, bringing the death toll to 68, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Most of the miners killed by the Nov. 20 fire at a complex of iron mines in Shahe, Hebei province, were suffocated by smoke, state media have said.

Police have detained nine people in connection with the blaze, which erupted after an electrical cable caught fire.

China's mines are the world's deadliest, with thousands killed every year by fires, cave-ins and other disasters.

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