Rescuers have abandoned the search for two miners missing after a coal mine flooded in northwest China's Shaanxi Province late last month, leaving seven others dead.

The saturated shaft had collapsed in places at the Yaotou Coal Mine in Chengcheng County, Weinan City, and toxic gas had been seeping from underground, a spokesman for the rescue headquarters said on Friday.

"The risks are growing for rescuers in the tunnel underground. To ensure their safety, we decided to stop the search this morning," he said.

Rescuers had earlier retrieved seven bodies from the pit, and they said the missing miners had a slim chance of survival.

But the rescuers would continue to pump out the water, he added.

Fourteen miners were working underground when the mine was flooded at 11:40 a.m. on October 26. Five of them narrowly escaped.

Yaotou Coal Mine is a registered private mine with an annual output of 60,000 tons.

(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2007)