Some 28 miners had been confirmed dead by early Tuesday and another 14 were still missing in a coal mine gas explosion in Datong City of north China's Shanxi Province.

The blast occurred at around 6:40 a.m. Monday, when a total of 43 miners were working in the Xing'ergou mine. Rescue work was immediately conducted and one miner survived.

According to the State Administration of Production Safety, 15 bodies were found underground while 13 died soon after being sent to the local hospital.

Rescue workers were continuing their efforts to find the missing miners and investigation into the cause of the explosion was under way, officials said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2003)