Twenty-one out of the 26 miners who were seriously injured in a fatal gas blast that killed 74 miners in north China's Shanxi Province are in stable condition, a senior health official said Monday.

Five others who were previously in critical condition were also recovering, as three of them were clearly getting better and the vital signs of the other two were stable Monday morning, said Wang Jun, deputy director of the Shanxi Provincial Department of Health at a press conference.

The five miners have been transferred to two hospitals in the provincial capital Taiyuan -- the People's Hospital of Shanxi Province and the No.2 Hospital affiliated to Shanxi Medical University.

Xiao Chuanshi, president of the No. 2 Hospital, said the injured were expected to make a full recovery within three weeks.

The blast occurred at around 2:20 a.m. Sunday, while 436 miners were working underground at the Tunlan Coal Mine of Shanxi Coking Coal Group in Gujiao City, about 50 km away from Taiyuan.

In addition to the 74 fatalities, the gas blast injured a total of 114 miners. Most of the injured miners showed symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.

(Xinhua News Agency February 23, 2009)