XI'AN: Twenty-seven miners were killed and five were missing following a gas explosion at a coal mine in Zichang County in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

The accident occurred at Wayaobao Coal Mine just before 5 pm on Saturday when 39 miners were working underground.

There has been no confirmation yet about what caused the blast.

Seven miners were slightly injured, according to Shaanxi Provincial Administration of Work Safety. "The seven managed to escape from the mine and were sent to hospital. They are all in a stable condition," an administration spokesman said.

Dang Zhigang, a rescue worker, said that he and his colleagues went down the mine on Saturday after the accident and found seven bodies.

"More than 20 rescue workers in three groups were sent underground, but the situation was very complicated, making the rescue work difficult," said Li Shengrong, another rescuer.

Wayaobao Coal Mine, located four kilometres southwest of the county seat, is a private firm that has the proper business and safety certificates.

Its annual production capacity is designed to be 30,000 tons, although last year its output was 31,000 tons, said Wu Yanjun, an official with Yan'an municipal government, which administers the area.

"It is a tunnel-type coal mine with low gas density underground," he said.

Local police have detained the mine's owner and managing personnel, sealed production-related documents and frozen the company's bank account.

The investigation into the accident's cause is continuing.

The Yan'an municipal government has ordered all small-sized coal mines with an annual capacity of less than 50,000 tons to stop production for safety checks.

Soon after the accident occurred, officials from the State Administration of Work Safety and Shaanxi provincial work safety bureau went to the site to oversee the rescue work, Chen Qiang, mayor of Yan'an, told China Daily yesterday.

Source: China Daily