87 dead in China coal mine gas blast

Beijing: Rescuers were racing against time and Siberian cold to reach 21 miners still trapped underground as the toll from a massive gas explosion in China's deadliest coal mine disaster in two years more than doubled to 87, local officials said on Sunday.

The toll in the pre-dawn underground blast at the state-run Xinxing Coal Mine has risen to 87 and another 21 are still trapped in the shaft, officials said.

The blast occurred around 2:30 am on Saturday at the Xinxing Coal Mine under the state-owned Heilongjiang Longmei Mining Holding Group's subsidiary in Hegang City.

A total of 528 miners were working underground, among whom 420 have escaped the accident, said staff of the company.

More than 240 rescuers in 19 groups have been sent into the shaft, while more than 300 others were helping with the rescue work, said Mr Zhang Zhenlong, assistant chief engineer of the subsidiary.

"The blast didn't result in much damage to the laneways, but it crippled the ventilation system and communication facilities," Mr Zhang said, adding that the rescue work in the past a few hours was to repair the ventilation system.

"Fresh air from the outside could add more chances for survival of the trapped miners," Xinhua news agency quoted Zhang as saying.

Till Saturday, 42 deaths were confirmed and the number leapt to more than double after 45 more bodies were recovered in overnight rescue operations.