Xinhua reported that rescue efforts were proceeding slowly in the gas-filled pit where 28 miners were still trapped by Thursday afternoon after Wednesday's gas explosion in a coal mine in Sichuan Province.

Sichuan Province authorities said that nineteen people have been confirmed dead after an explosion hit the Xiaojiawan Coal Mine in the city of Panzhihua around 6 PM Wednesday.

Authorities said that temperatures reached 80 to 90 degrees centigrade and carbon monoxide was dense in the zone where the 28 miners were trapped. Currently, only some mask-wearing ambulancemen have been able to enter.

A total of 154 miners were working underground when the accident happened, and 107 of them were rescued out of the shaft. Fifty-one miners were sent to hospitals, among them seven were critically injured.

As of Thursday noon, 136 rescuers had arrived at the site, and 175 others were on their way.

Source - Xinhua

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