BEIJING AP A gas explosion in a government-run coal mine in southwestern China killed 38 miners and seriously injured 18 others the official Beijing Evening News reported Tuesday. More than 80 people were working in the Laibin mine's No. 2 shaft in Yunnan province when the explosion took place Sunday and six miners were still unaccounted for the newspaper said. Miners touched off the gas explosion by dynamiting a shaft in the mine the newspaper said. It did not provide further details of the accident. Work in the Laibin mine in Yunnan's Xuanwei county first began in 1958. It produces about 220000 tons of coal annually the report said. China is the world's biggest producer and user of coal but is plagued with legions of mines that are ill-regulated and operated with outdated equipment. In October alone this year accidents killed 157 miners. China has in recent weeks renewed a campaign to improve management of mines closing down ones opened without official permission. The Laibin accident came two days before an earthquake of preliminary magnitude of 5.1 rocked the area. Tuesday's quake toppled houses in rural villages and opened cracks in building walls in the county seat of Xuanwei a government seismologist reported. APW19981201.0117.txt.body.html APW19981201.0714.txt.body.html