Rescue teams struggle to retrieve surviving miners in twin accidents

Local rescue teams in Sichuan and Jilin provinces have given updates of efforts in two mine accidents.

A total of 21 miners were still trapped Thursday night after a gas explosion a day earlier in a coal mine in the city of Panzhihua, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, rescuers said.

By 8:40 Thursday, the death toll in the mine gas explosion stood at 26. Among the injured, seven were in critical condition and a further 10 were seriously injured. All the injured miners have been taken to local hospitals, the local rescue headquarters said.

The condition of the 21 trapped men was not known, rescuers said.

A total of 154 miners were working underground at the Xiaojiawan Coal Mine, owned by Zhengjin Industry and Trade Co, in the city when the blast occurred around 6 pm Wednesday, 107 of which have been rescued.

Professional rescue teams, consisting of 136 people, from other coal mines in the province and neighboring Yunnan Province have arrived at the accident site.

The owner of the mine is being questioned by police.

Meanwhile, rescuers in Northeast China's Jilin Province said Thursday that three miners remain missing 18 days after a gas explosion occurred at a coal mine and the missing men have only a slim chance of survival.

Search and rescue operations are still under way at the mine, which is located in the city of Baishan, rescuers said.

The accident occurred at the Jisheng Coal Mine on August 13, when 116 miners were working underground. Of the workers, 95 escaped.

The death toll now stands at 17 and one injured miner remains hospitalized.

The miners are believed to have been trapped far away from the mine's major roadway, making it hard for rescuers to reach them.