CHENGDE, May 21(Xinhuanet)-- Rescuers have so far discovered 30 bodies at the site of a coal mine blast that occurred Thursday in Chengde, a city in north China's Hebei Province.

Another 20 miners remain missing, and only one of the trapped miners has been rescued.

The explosion occurred at around 3:00 a.m. Thursday when 85 miners were working underground at the Nuan'erhe Colliery. Thirty-four of them were lifted up to the ground, with 51 others trapped by Thursday night.

Among the trapped, 49 were locals from Chengde and two were from Qinglong County in Qinghuangdao, a city neighboring Chengde.

Located at Nanzhangzi Village in Bajia Township, the coal mine used to be state-owned, but was auctioned to the Beijing Guodian Zhongneng Electric Fuel Investment Co. Ltd. for 65 million yuan(about 7.8 million US dollars) in Dec. 2003.Enditem