The death toll from the explosion at the staff hospital of Xuangang Coal and Electricity Company in north China's Shanxi Province was 31 as at 9:30 PM on Tuesday, according to sources with the municipal government.

It began to snow at around 2 PM on Tuesday in Yuanping, Shanxi, forcing temperatures down to about zero degrees Celsius and hampering rescue efforts.

"There might be others buried under rubble and we will try every possible means to find them despite the snowfall," a rescuer told Xinhua.

Rescuers also cautioned that the death toll could rise further.

The explosion took place at about 2:25 AM on Monday in a garage of the hospital. Patients have been transferred to Yuanping People's Hospital and Yuanping Railway Hospital.

The explosion flattened a two-story residential building and several small houses nearby. Buildings within a kilometer of the garage were damaged to varying degrees. A five-story medical staff building nearby was seriously damaged.

The blast also affected more than 200 villagers living in the vicinity, many of whom were injured.

The local government has started handing out subsidies of 50 yuan (US$6.24) a day to every person rendered homeless, said Zhou Xixi, head of Xuangang village in Xuangang Township.

Local police are investigating the cause of the explosion. They have recovered detonators and blasting fuses from the accident site.

Police said the explosives might have been stored in the basement of the two-story residential building, which had a garage on the first floor and 17 rooms, all living quarters, on the second floor.

(Xinhua News Agency April 12, 2006)