China's State Administration for Production Safety issued an urgent notice Friday urging local bureaus for coal-mine production safety to tighten their supervision of coal mines.

The notice was issued after 111 people had been confirmed dead by midday Friday in a gas explosion which took place Thursday in the Chengzihe Coal Mine, northeast China.

Another four people are still missing but the 24 miners who were rescued from underground were out of danger, according to local government sources.

The notice specifies a series of safety standards for coal mines, and rules that any coal mine that fails to meet the standards should be closed.

It also urges local authorities to further implement a strict responsibility system to avoid any possible failure in accident prevention.

(China Daily June 21, 2002)