The death toll of a coal mine blast on Thursday rose to ten Friday morning in Usu, a city in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, local government said.

Rescuers are still searching for the six miners still trapped underground.

The accident occurred at about 6:10 PM Thursday at Dianzhangou Zhongxing Coal Mine, about 50 kilometers to the south of the Usu proper. The coal mine, a private business, produces 10,000 tons of coal annually.

(Xinhua News Agency October 28, 2005)