Related: Colliery blast traps about 160 miners in Heilongjiang

    HARBIN, Nov. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Thirty miners are confirmed dead and 149 others still missing following a colliery explosion Sundaynight in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, the local coal mine safety watchdog said Monday.

    Altogether 221 miners were working underground when the blast went off at 9:40 p.m. Sunday at Dongfeng Coal Mine run by Qitaihe branch of the Heilongjiang Longmei Mining (Group) Co., Ltd., the provincial coal mine safety administration told Xinhua.

    By 7:00 a.m. Monday, 42 miners had been saved and rescuers found 30 dead bodies down the pit. A 126-member rescue team are working all-out to search for the remaining 149 miners.

    Zhang Zuoji, governor of Heilongjiang Province, is at the site to oversee the rescue operation.

    Investigators said the tragedy was caused by coal-dust explosion, which knocked out all ventilation systems in the pit. By Monday morning, the main ventilation system has resumed operation.

    Longmei Group is a mining conglomerate of four state-owned major coal businesses in the northeastern province. It has a registered capital of 13 billion yuan (1.6 billion US dollars). Enditem