Beijing: At least 170 miners were trapped underground after a gas explosion today (Nov 28, 2004) ignited a fire in a coalmine in northwest China's Shaanxi province, reports said.

A total of 123 miners had been rescued after the explosion took place at the Chenjiashan Coalmine, with another 170 remained trapped, Xinhua reported.

There were 293 miners working underground when the gas explosion took place at around 4:50 hrs IST in coal-pits some 8,000 metres away from the ground entrance, latest information from the state-owned coalmine under the jurisdiction of the Tongchuan Mining Administration, confirmed.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

Those who escaped the blast were mainly workers who were near the entrance. Some of them were poisoned by carbon monoxide, the report said.

Senior provincial officials, including Li Jianguo, secretary of the Shaanxi Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, and Chen Deming, Acting Governor of Shaanxi, have all rushed to the site to organise the rescue operation.

The Chenjiashan coalmine is capable of producing 1.3 million tonnes of coal a year.