Thirty-five miners were Saturday confirmed killed in the coal mine blast which occurred Friday morning in Xixian County, Shanxi Province, and one miner was still missing.

Two miners were strapped underground Friday night, but one of them was confirmed dead by 9:00 Saturday morning.

Fire brigades from cities of Linfen and Xiaoyi and the Fenxi Mining Company are still working at the collapsed mines to search for the only miner trapped.

There were 49 miners working underground when the gas explosion occurred around 7:40 a.m. at the Liangjiahe Coal Mine in Xixian County, and 13 miners have been saved from the mine located in the outlying mountainous areas.

Zhang Baoshun, governor of Shanxi Province, is now at the coal mine directing the rescue efforts. Production at all coal mines in Linfen had been halted for investigation for possible safety loopholes, Xinhua has learned.

(Xinhua News Agency May 1, 2004)