Beijing: A gas explosion at a coal mine in North East China's Heilongjiang province on July 8 killed at least 39 miners and trapped another four who were unlikely to survive, state media reported.

The blast at the small Dingsheng Coal Mine at around 12:00 hours (IST) trapped 43 miners, Xinhua news agency said.

Rescuers had recovered the bodies of 39 miners by 23:20 hours (IST), it said.

Four other miners trapped underground had not been found and their chances of survival were slim, mine official Gao Yun said.

A team of 30 people had started rescue operations and the provincial governor and a deputy governor had left for the mine, Xinhua said.

Earlier on July 8, Xinhua reported that a further two miners had died in a flooded mine also in Jilin, with five more missing.

The latest deaths come as Beijing attempts to improve China's abysmal work safety record.

The problem has become so severe that authorities in Beijing have issued an urgent directive for all regional and local officials to do more to avoid workplace accidents, state media reported on July 8.

"Enterprises turning a deaf ear to safety regulations and management processes are the main reason for the recent disasters," Zhao Tiechui, deputy head of the State Administration of Work Safety Administration, told the China Daily.