The death toll of Thursday night's coal mine explosion in northwest China's Shaanxi Province rose to 16 Sunday evening, rescuers said.
The explosion took place at about 9:15 PM Thursday at Shangyukou Colliery, a private coal mine in Hancheng, a city 360 km away from provincial capital Xi'an, leaving 29 miners trapped underground.
Nine miners were rescued and four are still missing. Miners rescued from the explosion have been hospitalized and are receiving "proper treatment," said a member of the medical team.
The mine, with an annual production capacity of 60,000 tons, employs 60 miners.
The legal representative of the mine, Guo Zongwen, is under custody.
(Xinhua News Agency May 2, 2005)
