Three miners are dead and four others are missing following a gas explosion in a coal mine in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province on Monday, the local government said on Wednesday.

Rescuers had retrieved three dead bodies by 9 AM on Wednesday and were continuing to search for the other four miners, according to the emergency rescue headquarters in Jidong County, Jixi City.

Local authorities are yet to identify the victims, a spokesman said.

All the seven were trapped when a gas explosion occurred at 4:30 PM at the privately-owned Hongyuan mine in Jidong county. The provincial coal mine safety watchdog confirmed 29 miners were working in the pit and 22 were rescued.

Investigators said Hongyuan was a small mine designed to produce 60,000 tons of coal a year. It was allowed to resume production only in April after a major safety overhaul starting from last September.

(Xinhua News Agency May 16, 2007)