A coal mine blast in China that killed four women on 6 April has drawn angry responses from women’s groups. Nine miners died when the explosion occurred at Dongtang Coal Mine in central Hunan Province. Production at the mine had been suspended earlier this year when owners had failed to apply for a work safety certificate. Since 1993, Chinese mine safety law forbids women from working in underground mines.

The gas blast, in which five miners—including two women—managed to escape, caused local police to detain owners and investors of the enterprise. But the production manager of the Dongtang Mine and his wife fled the area as soon as word of the blast occurred.

In a another mine catastrophe, seven miners died and four were injured on 11 April when a shaft collapsed at the Tanhan Coal Mine in Shanxi Province.