Sixteen Chinese miners were killed and 77 are missing after a powerful blast ripped through an illegally operated coal pit in the southeastern province of Jiangsu.
There is little hope for those still underground, an official from a nearby state-owned coal mine said. The official said 13 miners, including three women, had been rescued.
State-run Xinhuanews agency said the explosion was caused by a build-up of gas in the mine in the city of Xuzhou, 190 miles north of the provincial capital of Nanjing.
The blast ripped through the mine while the miners were working in a shaft 850 feet below the surface.
Xinhua said the mine was operating without a licence and was ordered to halt production last month as a part of a national crackdown on illegally run mines, but it re-opened earlier this month.
China's coal industry, the world's biggest, has an appalling safety record. Last year, 5,300 deaths were reported in mining accidents. Already this year there have been almost 3,000 deaths officially reported.
The State Council - China's cabinet - ordered all state-owned small mines to shut down for safety checks in mid-June and stepped up a crackdown on tens of thousands of illegal, privately run mines across the country.
But the mines keep reopening in poor rural areas with high unemployment where workers are prepared to risk their lives for a job and a small salary.