The death toll of a gas explosion in a coal mine in Shaanxi Province has risen to 22, with one people still missing, said an official in charge of the rescue work at the spot Wednesday morning.

At about 4:00 am Wednesday, rescue workers found six more bodies in the a shaft of the Huangling coal mine after pumping outwaters, said Gao Qinshe, deputy director of the provincial supervision administration of coal mine safety.

Rescue efforts were still underway, said Gao, adding that they were considering a new rescue program to counter the problem of high gas concentration in the mine that hindered the rescue work.

Gao noted that the high gas concentration makes it difficult for rescue workers to go down to the mine. They have to pump out toxic gas and send in fresh air.

The gas blast took place at the coal mine in Huangling County at about 4:50 pm June 15 when 85 miners were working underground.The cause of the accident remained unknown.

Built in 1991, the state-owned Huangling coal mine was listed as one of China's key mining projects with an annual production capacity of 6 million tons.
 
(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2004)