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BEIJING : Rescuers have recovered the corpse of the last person missing after an explosion in a coal mine in northeastern China, bringing the death toll to 108, state media reported on Thursday.
"The toll has risen to 108 as all persons who were underground have been accounted for," the Beijing News reported, quoting a spokesman with the Xinxing mine in Heilongjiang province.
The huge blast tore through the mine in the city of Hegang on Saturday, killing 108 and leaving more than 60 people injured, officials have said.
The 108 dead looked likely to stand as the final toll as authorities have already said none of the injured was in a life-threatening condition.
The tragedy was one of the deadliest accidents reported in the country's disaster-prone mining industry in recent years.
Relatives of victims killed and hurt in the accident have angrily demanded answers about the disaster as officials said a preliminary probe pointed to poor management at the mine, one of China's oldest and largest.
Press reports have quoted Zhao Tiechui, deputy head of the state work safety agency, as saying the mine was overcrowded and insufficiently ventilated, adding to the high toll as volatile gases built up in the mine and exploded.
The tragedy has re-ignited nationwide concerns over poor safety and working conditions in the country's mining sector, in which thousands of miners are reported killed each year in accidents.
China's coal mines are among the most dangerous in the world, with safety standards often ignored in the quest for profits and the drive to meet surging demand for coal -- the source of about 70 percent of China's energy.
- AFP /ls
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