HEGANG, China (Reuters) - The death toll from China's latest coal mine disaster reached 87 as hopes dimmed on Sunday that more survivors would be found a day after a gas blast at a colliery in the country's icy far northeast.
Xinhua news agency reported 528 workers were in the mine, at Hegang in Heilongjiang province, at the time of the blast, and 420 had been rescued by Sunday.
Some 21 miners remained trapped or unaccounted for, Zhang Jinguang, a spokesman for the mine company, told reporters, who were taken by officials to see 20 or so rescue workers descending into a tunnel still belching smoke. By later on Sunday, none of the 21 had been found, Xinhua reported.
Zhang Fucheng, an official in charge of rescue efforts, told Chinese television that efforts were held up by dense gas and collapsed tunnels. Temperatures were near freezing.
The blast was the latest accident to hit the world's deadliest major coal mining industry. The explosion was so violent it shook the surrounding area and nearby buildings partly collapsed.
Some of the survivors were badly injured.
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