Twenty-five miners were confirmed dead and another 20 remained underground following a colliery gas burst Saturday in southwestern China's Chongqing Municipality, Xinhua quoted local coal mine supervision authorities as saying. The accident happened around 11 a.m. at Tonghua Coal Mine in Anwen Town of Qijiang County, when 131 miners were working underground. Eighty-six workers escaped. By 1 p.m., the bodies of 25 dead miners had been retrieved. No information about the 20 remaining underground is available, as rescuers have not yet been able to reach them because of the dangerous level of gas density. Rescue work is ongoing and the cause of the accident is being investigated.
