Rescue work at a coalmine in Liaoning Province came to an end on Thursday with the recovery of a further five bodies. Altogether 27 workers lost their lives in the tragedy.

Efforts will now focus on handling the aftermath and investigating the cause of a blast, said Wang Daguang, secretary of the coal mine's committee of the Communist Party of China.

A gas explosion occurred at around 8:15 AM Wednesday in the Wulong Coal Mine of Fuxin Mining Industrial Group which resulted in 22 deaths and 36 others injured.

Rescuers found the body of another miner during their search for the four missing miners, said Wang.

All the injured miners are being treated at the General Hospital of the Fuxin Mining Industrial Group and Ping'an Hospital of Fuxin city.

Five of the 36 injured were in a critical condition, said Chen Shili, head of the publicity department of the general hospital.

The tragedy occurred at the workface of No.331 area of the Wulong coal mine which is about 900 meters below ground. More than 180 rescuers were involved in the search for the missing miners.

The Wulong coalmine, owned by the Fuxin Mining Industrial Group, is approximately 150 km northwest of the provincial capital Shenyang

Having been in operation since 1957 the Wulong mine produces more than two million tons of coal annually. The entire mining group has stopped production for work safety inspections to be carried out.

56 bodies recovered

Rescuers in north China's Shanxi Province have recovered all the 56 bodies trapped in a flooded colliery for more than a month, the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) said on Wednesday. 

The flooding occurred on May 18 in Zuoyun where 266 miners were working at the time. Reports state 210 workers escaped. 

After the accident, two county leaders of Zuoyun resigned and the 11 coal mine owners have been arrested.

According to the initial investigations, miners drilled through a sealed area underground, which triggered the flooding. But this could have been avoided as the mine showed signs of flooding six days before the accident occurred. However, miners were ordered by the management to go on working despite the risk.

(Xinhua News Agency June 29, 2006)