Gas Explosion | featured news

At least 16 people were hurt and a popular wine bar was destroyed by an apparent natural gas explosion and ensuing fire at an upscale shopping district in Kansas City, Mo., Tuesday evening.

The explosion, triggered by the rupture of a 20-inch gas main, occurred near Sissonville just before 1 p.m., Kanawha County Fire Coordinator C.W. Sigman said. Kent Carper, president of the Kanawha County Commission, said flames had been shooting 50 to 75 feet into the air before the fire was extinguished. "It sounded like a Boeing 757. Just a roar," he said. "It was huge. You just couldn't hear anything. It was like a space flight."

A massive explosion deep inside a New Zealand coal mine Wednesday erased hopes of rescuing 29 miners caught underground by a similar blast five days ago. The prime minister declared it a national tragedy....

Poisonous gases kept rescuers from entering a New Zealand coal mine where a powerful blast trapped 29 workers, as intermittent power outages Saturday frustrated efforts to pump in fresh air.

Rescue crews waited impatiently outside one of New Zealand's largest coal mines Friday night for the all-clear to begin a search for 27 men missing after a powerful gas explosion struck deep underground.

There is little hope of finding alive 11 missing coal miners trapped after a gas leak in central China that already killed 26 people, state media said Monday of the country's latest mining disaster.

A gas explosion Saturday killed at least 20 workers at a coal mine in central China, state media reported.