The State Council set up a task force on Friday to investigate the cause of a colliery blast that killed 19 miners and trapped 28 others in north China's Shanxi Province.

Li Yizhong, director of the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS), will head the investigation group, which consists of officials and experts from central and local government departments.

The investigation group will also try to determine responsibilities for the accident.

The accident occurred at 11:45 AM on Sunday in the Jiaojiazhai Coal Mine of Xuangang Company in Xinzhou, Shanxi Province. Xuangang Company belongs to the Datong Coal Mine Group.

Rescue operations are continuing at the coal mine but sources said the 28 trapped miners have little chance of surviving five days after the fatal gas explosion.

Li, who is organizing rescue operations at the mine, said that whether the trapped miners were alive or dead, they had to be found.

(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2006)