A colliery explosion on Tuesday afternoon killed three miners and left 23 others unaccounted for, and four of the seven trapped by a mine flooding on Sunday were confirmed dead yesterday.

The gas blast at Jinsuo No.5 Coal Mine in Tongchuan City, Shaanxi Province took place at 2:30 PM, said the provincial administration of coal mine safety supervision.

  
Twenty-nine people were working underground at the time; four were freed and hospitalized, one of whom later died.

Two bodies were found underground, and work to rescue the other 23 is underway, according to reports today.

Sunday's flooding at Xigou Coal Mine in Xin'an County, Henan Province trapped seven miners, and a county government spokesperson confirmed yesterday that three were rescued and the other four's bodies recovered by dawn that day.
  
He said the survivors are being treated and are "basically out of danger."
  
Rescuers had worked around the clock to pump water out and fresh air in to the shaft over the past three days.
  
Local police are investigating the cause and looking for the owner of the mine, who went missing after the accident. The mine was undergoing safety improvements when the flooding occurred.
  
The county government ordered all small coal mines to suspend production for safety inspections. 

(Xinhua News Agency July 20, 2005)