At least 203 miners were killed, 22 injured and 13 trapped in a coal mine gas explosion Monday (Feb 14th) afternoon in Fuxin, a city in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Zhang Yunfu, vice general manager of the Fuxin coal industry group said the work operation was normal Monday morning, and a coal mine quake took place at 2:50 p.m. at the No.3316 working face of Sunjiawan colliery of the Fuxin coal industry group.

The gas blast occurred at about 3:00 p.m. about 242 meters underground.

Rescue operation began immediately and further investigation is underway.

Officials from the provincial government, Fuxin and other relevant departments have rushed to the mine.

The designed yearly production capacity of Sunjiawan colliery is 1.5 million tons.

State Council sends work team to Liaoning coal blast site

Chinese President Hu Jintao Monday asked local governments to spare no effort to save miners trapped in a coal mine by a gas explosion Monday in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice Premier Huang Ju also instructed local officials to rescue the victims, find out the cause of the accident and deal with the aftermath.

The blast occurred at 3:49 p.m. in the Sunjiawan colliery, located in Fuxin, and killed 203 miners, leaving 22 others injured and 13 missing.

A work team led by State Councilor Hua Jianmin arrived at the accident site Tuesday morning. Hua and his team will try their best to find the missing, treat the injured, prepare compensationsfor the families of the victims.

Editor: Wing