Death toll rises to 11 in SW China colliery gas burst

KUNMING, Jan. 5 -- The death toll from a gas burst at a coal mine in southwest China's Yunnan Province has risen to 11 as rescuers found the last corpse Monday evening, the rescue headquarters said Tuesday.

The body was retrieved at 7:55 p.m. Monday in a shaft of the ill-fated Malishu Coal Mine about 200 meters underground.

Eleven miners were trapped underground after the gas burst hit the mine in Shuangbai County, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, at about 1:50 a.m. on Dec. 28.

More than 110 rescuers have been working around the clock since the gas burst. The rescue operation concluded after the last body was lifted to the ground.

Local work safety authorities were investigating the cause of the accident.