Five miners trapped in a coal and gas outburst accident early on Tuesday in northwest China's Shaanxi Province have been confirmed dead, a local government official said.

Rescuers recovered the bodies at 11:15 a.m. on Wednesday after a 31- hour search.

The accident took place at about 4 a.m. at the Xinglong Coal Mine that was under construction in Hancheng City. It occurred when five miners were clearing an underground tunnel, a city government spokesman said.

The mine is run by the Yi'an Coal Mine which is affiliated to the Xuzhou Mining Business Group Co. Ltd. in eastern Jiangsu Province. It was being designed to produce 300,000 tons of coal annually.

The spokesman provided no further details.

The outbursts are a phenomenon that occurs when gas, a combination of methane and carbon dioxide, and coal dust combine to create a volatile substance.

Separately, a gas fire killed three miners in another coal mine in Hancheng on Monday morning. One miner escaped unhurt, city officials said on Wednesday.

(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2007)