Rescuers have found seven more bodies at a coal mine in southwestern China's Guizhou province, bringing the confirmed death toll from a gas explosion there last week to 16, state media said Tuesday.
Twenty-five miners were working in the shaft at the Shagou colliery in Panlong town, Liupanshui city at the time of the blast early Friday, the Xinhua news agency said. Nine escaped but 16 were missing.
All 16 bodies had been found by Tuesday, Xinhua said.
Rescue work has been "extremely difficult" because many passageways were destroyed, making it hard for rescuers to reach the shaft, Xinhua said, quoting the provincial coal mine safety bureau.
The mine had been operating without a safety certificate, the national work safety watchdog said earlier.
China's mines, many of them illegal, are considered the world's most dangerous. Work has become even riskier in recent years with demand for coal escalating to help fuel the nation's brisk economic growth.
More than 6,000 miners died in accidents in China last year, according to previously released government figures. Independent estimates say the real figure could be as high as 20,000.
