Identities of victims of NE China mine blast confirmed

The Fuxin government has confirmed the identities of all 26 fatalities of an explosion on Wednesday at a coal mine in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Xinhua Insight: 26 killed in coal mine fire in NE China

The families of the victims, 23 of whom were from Fuxin City and three migrant workers, helped police to identify the bodies, the municipal government publicity office said Friday.

The city government is offering the families of the deceased counselling and funeral assistance.

The State Coal Mine Safety Administration announced on Thursday night that 52 people had sustained injuries and the blast may have been caused by gas combustion rather than coal dust ignition, as previously presumed.

However, the investigation into the exact cause continues and a task force, headed by the provincial coal mine work safety administration, was investigating the blast site.

The Fuxin Coal Corporation General Hospital, which is treating all the injured, has called in burns specialists from the provincial health department.

Eighteen of the injured are still in a critical condition and remain under intensive care.

The incident occurred at 2:35 a.m. on a work platform at the Hengda Coal Mine, a subsidiary of state-owned Liaoning Fuxin Coal Corp., a major producer in the province.

The platform, which was 800 meters below ground, had only been open for two months.

There have been 26 major production accidents in the country, with death tolls of between three and 10, in the first half of this year, of which 15 cases involved gas.