Related: Colliery blast traps about 160 miners in Heilongjiang

    HARBIN, Nov. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- As of 2:00 p.m. Monday, the death toll rose to 68 in Sunday night's coal mine blast in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, said sources with the National Bureau of Production Safety Supervision and Administration.

Rescuers save a miner out of the blast site. (Xinhua)

    Rescuers have saved 74 miners while 79 others still trapped underground.

    Li Yizhong, head of the administration, called for rescuers to "spare no efforts to save the trapped miners."

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

    A 269-member rescue team has been going all-out to search for the miners trapped beneath the coal mine shaft after the blast. Rescuers have saved 74 miners, of which, 52 have been hoisted to the ground, according to the rescue headquarters.

Dongfeng Coal Mine after the blast (Xinhua)

    The rescuers are managing to lift the other 22 miners to the ground, saying there are possibilities for the survival of other trapped miners.

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

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

    Rescue operation is carried out swiftly for the remaining 100 miners trapped in the explosion. Enditem