Ten miners were killed and five others were believed trapped after a gas explosion ripped through a coal mine in north China's Shanxi province.

The fifteen miners were among 99 working underground in the Xiaowangou Coal Mine in Shanxi province Friday when the accident happened, the Xinhua news agency said.

Most of the miners managed to escape but 20 of them became trapped, five of whom were rescued late Friday.

The bodies of the 10 dead miners had been found while the fate of the remaining five was unknown.

China, the world's biggest consumer and producer of coal, still has long way to go improving the workplace safety in mine industry.

Official statistics show more than 7,000 coal miners were killed in gas explosions, floods, cave-ins and other accidents in China in the first 10 months of last year.

(Agencies via Xinhua News Agency August 7, 2004)