Rescue operations are in full swing after a gas explosion devastated a coalmine in Chengde, a city in north China's Hebei Province early on Thursday, trapping 51 miners.

The blast occurred at around 3:00 a.m. in the Nuan'erhe Coal Mine with 85 miners working underground. So far, 34 have been rescued.

Located at Nanzhangzi Village in Bajia Township, the coalmine used to be a state-owned, but was auctioned off to the Beijing Guodian Zhongneng Electric Fuel Investment Co. LTD. for 65 million yuan (US$7.83 million) in December 2003.  

The coalmine was built with a 20 million yuan (US$2.41 million) investment in 1982 and put into operation in 1987 with a production capacity of 210,000 tons. Coke accounts for one third of its production.

The coalmine was hit by two big gas blasts on January 26 and 27 in 2002, an incident that left 29 miners dead and 11 others injured.

The Hebei provincial government has decided to overhaul all coal mines across the province to improve safety standards. 

(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2005)