Beijing: The toll from a coalmine gas leak in central China's Henan province has risen to 30 after four more bodies were found, authorities said on Monday.
The state administration of work safety said that seven miners were still trapped underground.
Rescuers said on Sunday that chances of survival for the trapped miners were very slim, and they could be buried in coal dust, Xinhua reported.
More than 2,500 tonnes of coal dust smothered the pit after the gas leak, which hampered the rescue, said Du Bo, deputy chief of the rescue headquarters.
The gas leak happened at 6.03 am on Saturday when 276 miners were working underground in the mine in Yuzhou city. A total of 239 workers immediately managed to escape but 40 were trapped.
Liu Wenbin, a deputy chief engineer of the company that owns the mine, was in the pit when the accident happened. He was the one who organised the escape.
"At around 6 am, I felt there was something wrong with the airflow in the shaft, and one of the team captains told me he also felt it and had already reported the problem," said Liu.
Pingyu Coal & Electric Co. Ltd. owns the mine, a company jointly established by four investors, including Zhong Ping Energy Chemical Group and China Power Investment Corp.
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