The death toll from the colliery gas blast in north China's Shanxi Province rose to 23 as rescuers recovered four more miners' bodies on Saturday afternoon.

Local rescue officials say it's likely the remaining 24 trapped miners did not survive the toxic gas and serious tunnel cave-in.

The State Council, China's Cabinet, set up a task force on Friday to investigate the cause of the coal mine blast on November 5, in the Jiaojiazhai Coal Mine of Xuangang Company.

Though the direct cause of the blast is still under investigation, the task force sent by the State Council said "production safety ignorance and a chaotic management of the mine owner" contributed to the blast.

Li Yizhong, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, said he was "shocked to see the long-existing serious hidden dangers in the mine and the miners' habitual ignorance of operation instructions."

The official vowed to severely punish the related individuals and companies and urged all coal mine owners in China draw a lesson from the accident.

In central China's Hunan Province, the death toll from Wednesday's coal mine gas explosion has risen to five as rescuers recovered one more body on Saturday. In addition, at least 12 miners were missing, said Li Ming, vice mayor of Leiyang City, where the mine is located.

Li Quanfa and Li Quansheng, head and vice head of the coal mine, who were in charge of production, fled after the fatal gas explosion, leaving the number of the trapped miners a mystery, the vice mayor said.

The unclear situation in the tunnels has hampered the rescue operation. "So far, we have no blueprint of the mine for guidance and the mine engineer, who was supposed to be very familiar with the mine, was also trapped underground," said Lu Zhongxin, head of the rescue teams.

The number of coal mine accidents increased by 26.1 percent in October over the previous month. The number of mining deaths increased by 44.4 percent in the same period.

The "infinite greed" of the mine owners, driven by the growing demand of the winter coal market, was the main cause of the accidents, said Wu Jianming, professor with Taiyuan University of Science and Technologies. "Some mines that should have been closed will continue production regardless of the threat to life," said Wu, who also works as a consultant for the State Administration of Work Safety.