Two people have been confirmed dead and five others are missing following a colliery gas explosion in southwest China's Sichuan Province on Sunday, the local government said.

Forty-one miners were working in the pit when the blast occurred at 9:30 AM at Shi'ergou Mine in Daxian County, according to an official with the provincial workplace safety bureau.

He said 34 people were rescued. "Five of them are injured and are being treated at Dazhou Central Hospital."

Rescuers retrieved two dead bodies in the pit and were continuing to search for the five missing miners, he said.

Investigators said Shi'ergou was a legal, fully registered village-run mine with annual output of 30,000 tons.

Further investigation is underway.

(Xinhua News Agency May 21, 2007)