A total of 72 miners have been confirmed dead in the March 19 coal mine gas blast in north China's Shanxi Province after rescuers found two more bodies by Sunday, said officials in charge of the rescue operation.

Rescuers on Sunday morning found the remains of one more miner beneath the shaft of Xishui Coalpit of Shuozhou, where a gas blast occurred at 12:15 AM last Saturday, as well as the body of a worker from the neighboring Kangjiayao coal mine that was also damaged by the blast. Early reports said only 69 coal miners were buried underground.

By Sunday, 30 families of the victims had received compensation totaling 6.05 million yuan (US$728,000), according to the team in charge of dealing with the aftermath of the accident.

Built in 1993, the Xishui Coal Mine was capable of producing 150,000 tons of coal annually. It ignored orders to suspend production out of concerns for safety last November.

(Xinhua News Agency March 28, 2005)