Rescuers have recovered the bodies of another five miners who were trapped in Saturday's gas blast in a coal mine in Linfen, a coal-rich city in Shanxi Province, north China, bringing the confirmed death toll to 28.

The fate of other two trapped miners is not known yet as rescue efforts continue, according to rescue headquarters.

About 100 rescuers are trying to provide ventilation to the shafts, they said.

"Rescue work is quite difficult since the shaft is still filled with smoke," said Zhao Tiechui, director of the State Administration for Coal Mine Safety Supervision, at the scene on Sunday.

The gas blast occurred around 1:50 PM on Saturday at Pudeng Coal Mine in Kecheng Town of Puxian County where 125 miners were working.

Ninety-five miners, including 23 who were injured, escaped. Most of the injured miners suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning and are in stable condition in the nearby town hospital.

"I heard a bang and then ventilation stopped at my working platform underground," said Ma Hongbing, who was then 600 meters far from the blast site. "I immediately organized my fellow miners at the platform to flee."

Ma helped 31 trapped miners manage to flee, but he suffered carbon monoxide poisoning and is still receiving treatment.

Li Junping, from nearby Hubei Province, was digging coal about 500 meters from the site of the blast. "I was knocked over by a huge wave, but I knew I had to get up and go. It was like I was drunk and I finally tumbled out of the mine," he said.

"I stumbled and fell unconscious when I tried to run out of the shaft. The next thing I knew I was in the hospital. It was a nightmare," said Wang Liucheng, who was one of the last survivors to be rescued.

The initial rescue operation by the miners lasted two hours until heavy smoke made it impossible to continue.

Rescue efforts organized by local governments started two hours after the blast occurred as mine managers did not report the accident in time.

The mine was ordered on April 29 not to resume production until it was officially approved to do so. The special coal mine administration office of Puxian County had found it had many safety problems and demanded improvement.

But the mine's managers restarted production without any official permit on Friday in the southern mining area whose ventilation was quite poor.

"The coal mine was in a mess and under poor management," said the provincial work safety watchdog, adding that the 125 miners who were working underground at the time of the blast had been hired by five different mining contractors.

The mine had an approved production capacity of 150,000 tons and only 44 miners were allowed to be underground according to safety regulations. The mine was set up in 1986 by a village and became a private venture in 2004.

Local police have put the coal mine owner and several managers under surveillance. Provincial officials have ordered an investigation into the explosion.

Ninety-five rescuers are still working in shifts to search the missing.

The Pudeng explosion is the second colliery accident within six days in Shanxi, China's largest coal producing province. On Monday, a blast in an illegal mine at Liujiacun Village, Yuxian County, killed 14 people.

Shanxi boasts of coal reserves topping 264 billion tons, amounting to 26 percent of the national figure. It produces about 600 million tons of coal a year.

(Xinhua News Agency May 8, 2007)