Violation of safety rules and carelessness were to blame for the coal mine explosion that killed10 workers on April 10 in Jixi City of northeastern Heilongjiang Province, the provincial work safety supervision bureau announced Monday.

The coal mine, where the tragedy occurred, has no operating license from the state. It was ordered by the government to shut down, but secretly connected with the power supply in the coal mine shaft and stocked up a large quantity of powder in the mine, thus posing a hazard, said the official.

The owners of the coal mine were arrested.

The explosion happened in Hada village of Jidong county at about 5 a.m. on April 10, when 10 miners were working underground.

Rescuers found the last body around 9 p.m. last Tuesday at the very bottom of the main vertical shaft.

After the explosion, the provincial government called an emergency meeting in Jixi City to launch a special campaign across the province to shut down all coal pits in the province.

Source: Xinhua