Official state media said that there were 47 miners in the affected shaft at the time of the outburst but only 42 managed to escape.

The last of the five missing bodies were pulled from the debris at 4am Monday, Xinhua reported.

The Lianhuachongchagou mine is a licensed and legal operation but has been identified as having a high density of coal mine methane gas.

The cause of the outburst is still under investigation.