BEIJING - THE death toll from a gas explosion at a north Chinese coal mine rose steeply to 23 on Friday, as rescuers found new bodies, state media reported.

Search teams made the grim discovery of 20 more bodies at they made their way through the shaft of the Yaotou colliery in Chengcheng county, Shaanxi province, Xinhua news agency said.

Six miners were still unaccounted for as of late on Friday, nearly two days after the gas blast ripped through the mine, the agency said. Only seven miners managed to escape. -- AFP