Rescuers have found another 14 bodies at a coal mine in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, bringing the death toll from a fire on Saturday to 19.

A rescue headquarters spokesman said 12 miners remained missing as of 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Rescuers reached the fire in the shaft at 1 a.m. on Sunday and found the bodies. The fire was still spreading and the shaft roof over the fire was about to crumble. The density of toxic gases kept increasing, making the rescue work even more difficult, the spokesman said.

Experts were working on schemes to control the fire, including injecting liquefied carbon dioxide.

The fire broke out at about 3:30 a.m. on Saturday at Fuhua Coal Mine in Hegang City when 43 miners were underground. Twelve managed to escape while 31 were trapped. Rescuers recovered five bodies late on Saturday.

The mine's owner, manager, a vice manager in charge of production and another in charge of ventilation, and engineer were in police custody. Their bank accounts had been frozen, Wang Rui, vice mayor of Hegang, said.

The licensed mine, in Xingshan District of Hegang, belongs to Fuhua Mining Co., Ltd., and has an annual production capacity of 60,000 tons.

The city has ordered all its coal mines to suspend operation pending inspections. Mine safety authorities are investigating the cause of the blaze.

(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2008)