Coal Mine Fire in China Kills Nine

BEIJING (AP) -- A coal mine fire in China's far northwest killed nine miners, and rescue efforts were hampered by repeated gas explosions, state media said Saturday.

The fire broke out Thursday afternoon at a mine in the Xinjiang region's capital city of Urumqi, the government's Xinhua News Agency said.

The case was under investigation. One other miner was injured, the report said.

Rescue workers were initially unable to enter the mine because high levels of gas were fueling the fire and more explosions, it said.

Urumqi is about 1,500 miles west of Beijing.

China's coal mines are the world's deadliest, killing thousands of miners each year. Fatal fires, floods and cave-ins are reported nearly every week.