From the Beeb:
China's State Administration of Work Safety office has said the death toll among coal mine workers fell 15% last year, compared to that of 2007.
The official death toll last year was 91,172, the first time since 1995 that the figure fell below 100,000.
The death rate in coal mine accidents, per 1 million tonnes of coal produced, dropped 20.4% year-on-year to 1.182, the work safety office added.
Officials said tougher law enforcement and shutting illegal mines had helped. China's state news agency Xinhua, which reported the new figures, quoted Zhao Tiechui, senior official in charge of coal mine supervision, urging harder work on safety and accident prevention in the coming year.
China closed 1,054 illegal coal mines in 2008, but government figures show that almost 80% of the country's 16,000 mines remain illegal.
While coal production was up 7.5% last year, to about 2.72 billion tonnes, the number of accidents fell significantly, Mr Zhao said.
Last year, illegal mines produced 35% of the nation's coal, but accounted for 73% (21,000) of mining deaths in the industry, he added.
"Coal mines often experience the most serious accidents because so many of them are operating illegally. The industry also sees the most frequent covering-up of accidents," Mr Zhao said.
2.72 billion tonnes of coal was produced!
There's really not much point worrying about a car that produces 250g/km of CO2, is there?
Hello again darkness, my old friend...