Beijing: At least fifteen people were killed and nine others injured in a coal mine gas explosion in north China’s Shanxi Province, local authorities said on Tuesday. The blast occurred Monday afternoon, and rescue work was halted early Tuesday morning after everyone was accounted for. Authorities said that 15 people were killed in the blast.”Eleven miners managed to escape,” the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. China’s mines were long the world’s deadliest, but safety improvements, better training and the closure of smaller mines have reduced the toll.