KATHMANDU: As many as 10 miners that were trapped in a gold mine in Shandong Province of East China have been confirmed dead.

One miner is still missing and a search is underway.

Rescuers had pulled 11 miners to safety on Sunday after 22 of them were trapped 600 meters underground after an explosion in the mine 15 days ago in the Hushan mine in Qixia.

The rescuers that went down into the goldmine saw the bodies of 10 miners, the Global Times reported. "All have lost signs of life," chief on-site rescue expert Di Nomgkoam told the Chinese state-affiliated media. "Judging by the bodies, some of the miners starved to death, and some died from injuries from the explosion."

The Hushan mine is one of the major gold-producing regions in the province.

According to the statistics, National Mine Safety Administration, there have been 573 mine-related deaths in 2020.