Twenty-two miners have been confirmed dead and six others are missing after gas outburst accidents Thursday and Friday in north China's Hebei Province, rescuers said on Tuesday.

Nine miners died in an accident Thursday in Dashucun coal mine. The other accident occurred Friday noon in Tao'er coal mine, trapping 11 miners underground, said a spokesman with emergency rescue headquarters.

By 8:00 AM Tuesday, the bodies of all 11 miners trapped in the Tao'er coal mine had been recovered.

Meanwhile, rescuers pulled another dead miner from the Dashucun coal mine, pushing the death toll to 11. Rescuers said there is little hope for the six others.

Gas concentrations in both mines are still over safety limits, said rescuers.

At Dashucun coal mine, about 1,200 tons of coal fragments were spewed out when the accident occurred.

The two mines are both state-owned and designed to produce 900,000 tons a year.

(Xinhua News Agency April 25, 2007)