Rescuers pull 12 bodies from China coal mine

BEIJING (Reuters) - Rescuers have recovered the bodies of all 12 miners missing after a blast at a coal mine in central China, with no word on the fate of 181 miners trapped underground in the east for more than two weeks.

The 12 were repairing a shaft at a colliery in Henan province's Baofeng county when an explosion tore through the pit on Friday.

Debris from the blast initially impeded rescue work, but emergency workers had pulled all the bodies out by Tuesday, the Shanghai Daily said on Wednesday.

China's coal industry is the deadliest in the world, with 2,163 miners killed in 1,320 accidents in the first seven months of 2007.

Rescuers continued to pump water out of two mine shafts in Xintai in the eastern province of Shangdong, which flooded on August 17 leaving 181 miners trapped.

Any remaining hopes for 172 of the miners, trapped in one shaft, were dealt a blow when the entrance to the mine collapsed on Tuesday, impeding rescue work, Xinhua said.