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The explosion struck at the Yujialing Coal Mine in the coal-rich province of Shanxi, and comes just 10 days after 21 miners were killed in a similar disaster in the same province, Xinhua reported.
The Yujialing mine's production licence had expired before the explosion, and the mine owner and manager had been detained by police Xinhua said.
Following the disasters, the governor of Shanxi said safety inspections would be conducted and inspectors would close any mine that violated safety rules or operated without a licence. He also encouraged the public to report illegal mining operations.
