A special team has been formed officially by the State Council, or the central government, on Monday to investigate into a gas blast in a coal mine, which claimed the lives of 36 miners in Xixian county of Linfen city in western part of north China's Shanxi province.

With Liang Jiakun, deputy director of the State Administration of Work Safety as the head, the team comprises three subteams which are respectively responsible for technology, management and general affairs.

Eleven people held accountable for the gas blast have been staked out earlier by the police, including Bu Jianping, the legal representative of the Liangjiahe coal mine, the coal mine owner, the manager and chief engineers.

"The rescue work has completed and we will now start a new phase to handle other issues related to the accident," said Liang,claiming that the general safety situation in the province remainsserious.

There were 49 miners working underground when the gas blast occurred around 7:40 a.m. last Friday, and 13 miners have been saved from the mine located in the outlying mountainous area.

Source: Xinhua