On Thursday, as last Saturday's deadly explosion at the Xishui coal mine in Shanxi Province claimed its 70th victim, compensation payments to families began.

Families of two victims from Zhejiang and Hubei provinces each received 200,000 yuan (US$24,000) from the mine's operators while families of two other victims signed similar contracts for the same amount, according to local government.

The Shanxi Provincial government issued a regulation last year saying compensation for a miner killed in coal mine accident must be no less than 200,000 yuan. The regulation has been applied to three recent accidents in the province.

The payouts started even as the death toll rose to 70 early Thursday morning.

The blast occurred last Saturday afternoon at the Xishui Colliery in Shuozhou, also damaging the nearby Kangjiayao coal mine.

Also on Thursday, a coal mine explosion in central China's Hunan Province killed eight workers and injured six others, according to the provincial coal mine safety administration.

The explosion occurred at about 1:00 PM at the Antangshan mine, located in Tianxin township, Jiahe County. By about 5:30 PM rescue and recovery teams had brought the survivors and the bodies out of the tunnels.

The injured are hospitalized and in stable condition, according to the administration.

The cause of the explosion is under investigation.

(Xinhua News Agency March 25, 2005)