The toll in the northeast China coal mine blast rose to 166 as of this morning, while five others were still missing, rescuers said.
The number includes 164 miners who were confirmed dead underground and two others who died in the ground generator room, coal mine sources in Heilongjiang  said.
An investigation team headed by Zhao Tiechui, director of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, has been set up, the central government said yesterday.
The huge Heilongjiang blast occurred at 9:40pm on Sunday at the Dongfeng Coal Mine run by the Qitaihe branch of the Longmei Mining (Group) Co Ltd.
The latest figures show that 242 miners were working underground when the blast occurred and 73 were rescued, 48 of them hospitalized, according to the Longmei Group.
Earlier reports said 221 miners were working underground, but a source with the provincial bureau of work safety said the number was inaccurate. Some miners had registered for work but did not go down the shaft.
Two yardmen and three safety inspectors have been detained for dereliction of duty that caused confusion in counting the miners, Longmei said.
Meanwhile, in Inner Mongolia, all 31 small colleries were closed in Wuhai City after a coal mine blast killed 16 miners on November 11. The city has offered job training and financial aid to ex-miners who want to start their own businesses.
The city government said yesterday that before the shutdown, the small mines, including the one where the blast occurred, had been ordered to suspend operation due to poor safety facilities.
By Wednesday, all the production equipment, water and electricity supply lines and telecom facilities in the small mines had been dismantled.
The gas explosion at a mine run by the Bayinsai Coal Tar Co Ltd left 16 miners dead and three others injured. The mine was operating without a  safety license.
Gas spills, bad ventilation and a damaged gas monitoring system caused the tragedy, said local coal mine safety supervision bureau.
(Xinhua)