Local authorities in southern China say a coal mine fire has killed 16 people. The blaze broke out on Sunday at the Shanjiaoshu coal mine in the Guizhou province town of Panguan. The Panzhou city government says an initial investigation suggested the people who died were trapped after a conveyor belt caught fire. China’s coal mining industry has improved safety conditions for workers in recent years but fatal incidents still happen. The country is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases and continues to depend heavily on coal for electricity despite massive expansion of its wind and solar power capacity.
