The death toll in a massive coal mine explosion in central China has risen to 166 after scores of missing miners were declared dead.
Officials said rescue efforts were being blocked by fires and toxic fumes in the Chenjiashan Coal Mine, which was hit by the huge gas explosion on Sunday.
The death toll earlier was reported at 65, with 101 miners still missing. A one-sentence report by China National Radio, which cited a spokesman for the rescue headquarters, updated the toll but didn't say whether any additional bodies had been found or give any other details.
The accident was the deadliest to hit China's accident-plagued coal mining industry in at least five years and occurred despite a government safety campaign to reduce fatalities among miners.
In a separate accident, a government news agency reported that 13 people were killed and three missing in an explosion early Wednesday in a coal mine in the southern province of Guizhou.
The blast on Sunday in the Chenjiashan mine occurred some five miles from the mouth of the vast mine.
Emergency workers descended into the mine on Monday to repair ventilation equipment needed to clear away toxic carbon monoxide fumes from the explosion. But as late as last night, state media said some areas were still too dangerous to enter.
AP