Family members of 21 victims in a colliery explosion will soon get compensation from the government, the local health authority said Tuesday.

The working team set up after the blast that killed 30 miners have hosted more than 400 family members of the victims and signed compensation agreements with 21 households, involving 6.46 million yuan (946,220 U.S. dollars), said a spokesman with the team under the municipal government of Chongqing.

Negotiation with the rest nine families was underway.

Excessive use of explosives and poor evacuation procedures were blamed for the deaths by the explosion that occurred around 11 a.m. at Tonghua Coal Mine in Anwen Town of Qijiang County, when 131 miners were working about 1,000 meters underground.

Among them, 101 were rescued, and 77 of them were injured. Three of them, who have been hospitalized, were critically ill andnine sustained serious wounds.

Coal mine general manager Yi Zheng, chief engineer Chen Youmingand Liu Qiang, project manager with Chuanjiu Construction Company, have been detained. Chuanjiu Construction Company built the mine.

The Tonghua Coal Mine, with a history of more than 50 years, is affiliated with the state-owned Songzao Mining Bureau of Chongqing. The colliery's designed production capacity was 300,000tonnes per year, but this was expanded to 600,000 tonnes.

Source:Xinhua