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According to a Reuters report, the miners were killed when a gas explosion ripped through a mine shaft in the Shenlong coal mine, located 60km from Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region in the early hours of Monday morning.
"The remains of the 66 miners killed in the gas blast have been hoisted to the ground," deputy secretary general Yu Zhengui of the Xinjiang Government told Reuters, adding the chances of finding the missing 17 alive were slim.
According to Reuters, more than 6000 miners were killed in explosions and accidents in China in 2004.
