A gas explosion Friday killed 49 miners and injured two others in east China's Jiangxi Province, official sources said.

The blast occurred at 11:45 a.m. at the Jianxin Coal Mine of the Fengcheng Coal Mine Bureau in Jiangxi. The bodies of the dead have been recovered.

Rescue work has begun at the coal mine.

Five officials, including Liang Jiakun, deputy head of the State Administration for Safe Production Supervision and the Committee for Workplace Safety under the State Council, were on the way to the coal mine.

Meng Jianzhu, secretary of the provincial committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and Provincial Governor Huang Zhiquan have rushed to the scene to monitor rescue work..

The Jianxin Coal Mine is a large state-owned mine with an annual capacity of 600,000 tons. It has stopped operation.

The cause of the explosion is still unclear.

(Xinhua News Agency November 15, 2003)