FUSHUN, Liaoning Province, March 11 (Xinhua) -- 22 miners have died and seven are still missing in a flooded coal mine in northeast China's Liaoning Province, the rescue headquarters said on Sunday.

    By 8:00 p.m. Sunday, rescue efforts have been continuing in the pit at the Fushun Mining Group, a state-owned company in Fushun, a major industrial city east of the provincial capital Shenyang, said sources with the provincial safety watchdog..

    All the dead bodies have been transferred to the funeral home.

    The rescue work is expected to last two to three more days because the rescuers have to clean away the debris of the collapsed shafts in the flooding.

    The 29 miners were working on platform No. 73003 of the Laohutai Mine when it was submerged at 8:44 p.m. on Saturday.

    "The flood was followed by a gas leak and the platform was blacked out after the gas density hit 1.76 percent," said Wang Liancheng, a manager of the mine.

    The gas density fell below the 1.5 percent danger level Sunday afternoon after the rescuers restored the ventilation system, he said.

    Ten teams, involving 120 people, are on the rescue mission that started at 9:30 last night.

    Wang said there are still risks of further flooding, gas leaks or ceiling collapse.

    Fushun Mining Group has dispatched more than 300 employees and 60 medical staff to inform and counsel the victims' families. A doctor, a nurse and at least one car are standing by at each household in case of emergency, said Wang.

    All the 29 miners have signed contracts with the coal mine which has sent cars to get the relatives of the victims in other parts of the country, said Wang Jinyue, party secretary of the coal mine.

    The General Hospital of Fushun Mining Group and Laohutai Hospital are ready to provide first aid to survivors.

    The Fushun branch of China National Petroleum Corporation, the country's largest producer and supplier of crude oil and natural gas, donated two million yuan (258,398 U.S. dollars) to help the rescue efforts.

    The ill-fated mine had been closed for a safety overhaul.

    Laohutai, which translates into "tiger's platform", is a 100-year-old mine with 160 million tons of remaining coal reserves. It employs 7,200 people and produces 3.35 million tons a year.

    It is also one of the country's 45 most dangerous coal mines because of the high risk of flooding, fire and gas leaks.

    Coal mine accidents killed 357 people in China in the first two months of this year, according to the State Administration of Work Safety.

    It said 4,746 people died in 2,845 coal mine accidents last year, an average of 13 deaths a day.