One more body was recovered on Sunday after a coal mine gas outburst in northwest China's Gansu Province, bringing the death toll to three, local authorities said.

The accident took place at about 11 PM Friday at Yaojie Town of Lanzhou, provincial capital, when 10 miners were working underground at a mine owned by the Jinhe Coal Company.

Rescuers found three miners Saturday, two of whom died of gas poisoning while the third is under treatment in a local hospital.

A local official said that chances of survival for the six missing miners are "very slim."

Rescue work was hampered by high density of gas underground and coal and earth blocking the tunnels.

(Xinhua News Agency April 9, 2007)