Five people have gone missing after a colliery gas explosion in southwest China's Guizhou Province early on Tuesday, the local workplace safety watchdog confirmed.

Eleven miners were working in the pit when the blast went off at 1:30 AM at the village-run Wuqiutian Mine in the city of Fuquan, and six of them managed to escape, said a source with the Guizhou Provincial Mining Safety Supervision Bureau.

He said rescue work is going on.

Wuqiutian Mine is designed to produce 30,000 tons a year and holds no production safety permit.

Local authorities said plans are underway to merge such small mines into bigger mining firms to improve productivity and safety.

(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2006)