Death toll in coal mine blast rises to 213
,Xinhua
Updated: 2005-02-19 01:21

Another body was recovered on Friday from a coal mine in Fuxin city, northeast China's Liaoning province, where a gas explosion occurred on Monday, bringing the death toll to 213, local rescue officials told Xinhua.

Relatives of blast victims attend a cremation ceremony yesterday. [Xinhua]

Two miners were still missing by press time.

The gas blast occurred at about 3"Three hundred and thirty out of the 574 miners on duty escaped, and 244 miners were trapped beneath the shaft. A source with the headquarters in charge of rescue work said that 29 miners were injured.

The Sunjiawan colliery has 3,100 workers and two coal mines. The Haizhou coal mine, the one where the disaster took place, produces 1.5 million tons of coal annually.