The death toll from a coal mine gas blast late last week in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province rose to 21 on May 3.

"The underground rescue efforts have come to an end," an official with the provincial bureau of coal mine safety said.

The bodies were transferred to a funeral parlor, with identities of a dozen of them now confirmed.

The explosion took place at about 9:15 PM on Thursday in the private Xiayukou Colliery, as 32 miners were working in a pit below.

Three miners escaped by themselves and nine injured were rescued, Xinhua reported.

"Local government and relevant departments will conduct investigations of the accident and provide compensation for relatives of the victims," said an official who asked to remain anonymous.

He said that all the miners rescued from the explosion have been hospitalized and are receiving proper treatment.

At press time, two miners were still in a coma, including one in critical condition.

The mine, with an annual production capacity of 60,000 tons, employs a total of 60 miners, reports said.

Guo Zongwen, the legal representative of the mine, is in custody.

In the flooded coal mine in Jiaohe, a city in northeast China's Jilin Province, 20 miners have also been confirmed dead and 10 others are still missing Monday, the mine's rescue headquarters said.

On May 1, rescuers found 15 bodies in the shaft in addition to the five bodies found on April 27, the headquarters said.

On April 24 the Tengda Coal Mine was flooded when water from the neighboring Ji'an Mine flooded the shaft, trapping 69 workers. Thirty-nine were rescued the next day.

There is still no information about the 10 miners still underground. The rescue team is working on a plan on how to find them.

The exact reason for the accident is still under investigation, the headquarters said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 3, 2005)