4 killed, 9 missing

FOUR people were killed and nine others remained missing in a coal mine accident in Southwest China’s Guizhou Province, local authorities said yesterday.

The coal and gas explosion occurred around 9:10 p.m. Monday in Zimujia coal mine in Panzhou City.

The emergency rescue headquarters said the gas density in the mine had been lowered to less than 1 percent from the peak of nearly 40 percent. More than 60 rescuers are searching for the missing underground.

Ex-official stands trial

A FORMER senior disciplinary inspector stood trial at the No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court of Beijing yesterday.

Zhang Huawei was a senior member of the disciplinary inspection team of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, according to prosecutors.

He allegedly took advantage of his position and used other officials to assist certain organizations and individuals in business operations, real estate deals, personal promotions, and graft investigations.

Twins drowned

POLICE in Qingdao, Shandong Province, confirmed Monday that a pair of 8-year-old twin girls who had traveled from Beijing were drowned.

The twins — Pei Yuanjin and Pei Yuantong — had come to the coastal city with their mother, surnamed Sun, for a holiday, according to reports.

A rescue team found the body of the elder twin around

11:30 a.m. and the other at 3:45 p.m. in waters near the place the girls were reported missing.

The mother said she lost sight of the girls on a beach in the city’s Huangdao District around 3 p.m. Sunday as they were having fun digging in the sand just meters away from her.