Four more bodies were recovered Tuesday from a coal mine that was hit by a gas explosion last Saturday near Ruzhou City in central Henan Province, bringing the death toll to 22.

Rescue teams found one body in the morning and three others later on Tuesday.

At press time, one man is still missing, and the 17 injured are recovering thanks to timely medical treatment.

The explosion took place at the Sundian Coal Mine in Xiaotun Town of Ruzhou City. A total of 57 miners were working underground at that time, 34 of them escaped and nine others were missing.

The coal mine was opened in 1984, with legal permits, and it had an annual production capacity of 90,000 tons.

Following the accident, the city has closed all the coal mines in the vicinity pending safety checks.

(Xinhua News Agency November 25, 2003)