Rescue workers have confirmed altogether 14 miners were killed in a coal pit gas deflagration in mountainous Weining County, southwest China's Guizhou Province.

The efforts to hoist the bodies of the killed miners were thwarted because of the high concentration of toxic gas in the 200-meter-long underground passage for coal digging, said an official in charge of the rescue operation Wednesday.

Gas deflagration happened at a coal pit near Titian Village of Dongfeng Township in northwestern Guizhou, around 8 PM Tuesday, but was not reported to the Guizhou Provincial Bureau of Work Safety until early Wednesday, sources from the bureau said.

The coal pit only has a single shaft but got no ventilation facility. It didn't obtain a permit for coal production. The gas deflagration occurred when the gas accumulated in the shaft met with a spark of fire.

Most of the killed were locals. The two owners of the illegal coal pit have fled and the police have been hunting them down.

A team sent by Guizhou Provincial Bureau of Work Safety and Guizhou Provincial Bureau of Coal Mine Safety rushed to the site to help handle the aftermath of the accident.

Cause of the accident is under further investigation.

Like gas blast, gas deflagration is also listed as a major hazard for the coal mining industry, as the burning produces a great amount of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and intense heat.

(Xinhua News Agency May 4, 2006)