Compensation work began Thursday for victims killed in a deadly coalmine blast in Shuozhou, north China's Shanxi Province.

Families of two victims from Zhejiang and Hubei provinces received 200,000 yuan (24,096 US dollars) from the coalmine. Families of two other victims signed similar contracts for the same compensation, according to local government.

The Shanxi Provincial government issued a regulation last year saying compensation for a miner killed in coalmine accident must be no less than 200,000 yuan.

The regulation has been applied following three recent coalmine accidents in the province.

The death toll rose to 70 early Thursday morning following the Shuozhou explosion, which occurred Saturday afternoon at the Xishui Coalmine in Shuozhou, also damaging the nearby Kangjiayao Coalmine.

Source: Xinhua