URUMQI, July 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Rescuers found the dead bodies of 66 miners killed in a coal mine gas blast in the wee hours of Monday in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

    By 00:30 on Tuesday, 17 miners were still missing. They were working underground when the accident happened at around 2:30 a.m.in the Shenlong Coal Mine of Fukang County, 62 km away from Urumqi, the regional capital.

    Four people survived the accident, said Tian Guangxiong, deputy engineer-in-chief with the Coal Mine Work Safety Bureau of of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

66 miners have been confirmed dead in Xinjiang coal mine blast. (Photo: Xinhua)

    Remains of the 66 miners killed in the gas blast have been hoisted to the ground and placed at the nearest funeral home, said Yu Zhengui, deputy secretary-general of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Government, who added that chances of survival for the 17 missing miners were very slim.

    The regional government issued an urgent circular asking all operators of coal mines with hidden safety danger to suspend production and take measures for improvement shortly after the gasblast at the Shenlong Coal Mine. Enditem