Seven more bodies were recovered on Sunday after a coal mine gas
explosion in northwest China's Gansu Province, bringing the death toll to
nine, local authorities said Sunday night.
The accident took place at about 11 PM Friday at Yaojie township
of Lanzhou, provincial capital, when 10 miners were working
underground at a mine owned by the Jinhe Coal Company.
Rescuers found three miners Saturday, two of whom died of gas
poisoning while the third is under treatment in a local
hospital.
Rescue efforts were hampered by the high density of gas
underground and coal and earth blocking 40 meters of the tunnels,
rescuers said.
The cause of the accident is being investigated.
(Xinhua News Agency April 9, 2007)