A serious gas explosion rocked a coal mine in Jixi City in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province Thursday morning, killing at least 93 people and another 22 missing, according to the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety Supervision.

A total of 93 mines were confirmed dead in a gas explosion in Chengzihe Coal Mine, the local government said early Friday morning.

At present, 24 miners have been rescued and 22 others are still missing.

Altogether 139 miners were working underground when the devastating gas explosion took place at 9:45 Thursday at the coal mine under the Jixi Mining Administrative Bureau in Heilongjiang Province, northeast China.

The coal mine has 5,500 workers, producing 1.1 million tons of coal annually.

The State Administration of Coal-mine Safety has ordered the 10coal mines under the bureau to stop production for rectification.

Other mines across China are being urged to draw lessons from the gas explosion and pay more attention to production safety.

The central authorities are gravely concerned about the accident and have ordered the local government to make an all-out bid to save the lives of miners in the pit and try to minimize casualties.

Major leaders in the province and Jixi City have rushed to the site to organize rescue work.

(China Daily June 21, 2002)