Tangshan, China ? China’s third coal mine disaster in recent weeks left at least 62 workers dead and another 13 missing after an explosion tore through a mine in northern China on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s explosion occurred at the privately run Liuguantun Colliery in Tangshan, a city in Hebei province, when 186 miners were underground, said an official with the Tangshan Coal Mine and Safety Bureau who would only give his surname, Zhang.

Zhang said 82 miners escaped on their own and 32 were immediately rescued, but three of those later died. The bodies of 59 other miners had been recovered by early today and rescuers were searching for 13 people still trapped in the mine.

The government has shut down thousands of unsafe mines and punished mine owners who put profits ahead of lives. But China’s enormous need for energy, stemming from its booming economy, has kept many dangerous mines in operation.