Mine blast kills 39 in northeast China

China's notoriously unsafe mines have already claimed over 3,000 lives this year

BEIJING, China -- At least 39 miners have been killed in a gas explosion in a mine in Heilongjiang province in northeastern China.

Another four miners who were inside the pit at the time of the explosion in the Dingsheng mine are missing and rescuers say there is little hope of finding them alive.

A team of 30 rescue workers rushed to the site in the Hegang municipality of Heilongjiang province, some 870 miles north of Beijing.

There was no immediate explanation for the cause of the accident.

The Dingsheng accident came on the heels of a separate coal mine explosion last week in Jilin province that trapped nearly 40 miners.

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Only two bodies have been recovered from the Fuqiang mine, while officials say the chances of finding any survivors is slim.

Chen Xiaoguo, the mine's owner, surrendered to police only days ago after family members pushed him to turn himself in

China's notoriously unsafe mines have already claimed over 3,000 lives this year, despite authorities repeated promises that they would crackdown on substandard mines.

On Sunday the government convened a national teleconference with provincial and local governments to discuss mine safety strategies, The Associated Press reports.

"Enterprises turning a deaf ear to safety regulations and management processes are the main reason for the recent disasters," said Zhao Tiechui, deputy director of the State Administration of Work Safety Supervision.

The national Communist Party newspaper reported Monday that another mine in Heilongjiang province where an explosion killed 115 workers last month ignored at least seven orders to shut down before the accident.

The People's Daily said a local inspection team visited the mine, which lacked money to update out-of-date equipment, just days before the June accident.