MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - The death toll in a coal mine explosion in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province has reached 104, the Xinhua news agency said on Monday citing the Xinxing Coal Mine officials.
Earlier, 92 people were reported to have died in the blast that occurred early on Saturday after a gas buildup at the part of the mine about 500 meters underground.
A total of 528 miners were inside the mine at the time of China's deadliest mine accident in two years. The company said 420 workers have been rescued while the fate of four people remained unknown.
According to the mine officials, the rescue is still underway and a probe has been launched into the causes of the accident.
The Xinxing Coal Mine is run by the state-owned Heilongjiang Longmei Mining Holding Group, one of the country's largest coal producers.
China's coal mining industry is considered one of the most dangerous in the world. Up to 7,000 lives are lost annually during accidents at mining enterprises.
In 2005, a gas explosion in a coal mine in China's northeastern rust-belt province of Liaoning killed more than 200 workers, being the worst disaster to hit the country in 15 years.
