Rescuers on Monday recovered the bodies of the last three miners trapped underground after a sudden colliery coal and gas eruption in east China's Jiangxi Province on Saturday.

 

The bodies of 19 miners had been recovered. Two injured miners are receiving treatment at a local hospital, and one is said to be in a stable condition, according to rescuers.

 

The accident occurred at 11:45 p.m. on Saturday in Jianxin Colliery, based in Shangtang Township of Fengcheng City, when 283 miners were working underground. About 360 tons of coal fragments filled a 30-meter-long tunnel.

 

The miners were trapped for more than 30 hours, said the rescuers who are still cleaning up cinders and debris from the tunnel.

 

By Monday morning, rescuers had cleared 27 meters of the tunnel. The underground gas density was about 0.2 to 0.25 percent, which was within the safety limit, said an official in charge of the Fengcheng Coal Mining Bureau.

 

Jiangxi provincial government has formed a 22-strong investigation panel on Monday to "thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident and the damage it has incurred".

 

The provincial commission for work safety has ordered all state-owned coal mines and other hazardous industries to stop production to check potential safety hazards, without indicating when operations can resume.

 

The Jianxin Coal Mine, established in 1958 and affiliated to Jiangxi Coal Group Co., is a large state-owned mine.

 

The mine, troubled by high gas density, had experienced more than 180 gas outburst accidents since the 1970s. An accident in November 2003 claimed 49 lives and five more people died there in August 2006.

 

The local mining bureau has since 2004 invested more than 200 million yuan (about US$27 million) in projects to make use of gas. It has succeeded in generating electricity with gas.

 

The mine company has discussed compensation to families of the victims with its insurer.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2007)