Hopes faded Monday as the attempt to rescue 14 trapped miners from a flooded coal mine in Dengfeng City, central China's Henan Province, was hampered by dense gas inside.

The four miners whose bodies were found Sunday afternoon were identified as Li Gen, Wang Guoyi, Wang Deren and Zhang Aiguo, all migrant workers from Dengfeng or neighboring Ruzhou city, an official said.

The chances of survival for the remaining 14 trapped miners were already very slim as the Changda coal mine was flooded at about 2"Rescuers were hampered twice Monday by the dense gas inside the mine and they resumed the operation at 10 a.m. after the gas was discharged, the official said.

Forty tons of coal have been brought up as rescuers continued the search.

A team of 700 rescuers had been mobilized to work in shifts.

Zhou Zhenxiu, director of the Work Safety Bureau of Dengfeng City, had said the situation inside the coal mine was "more complex than expected".

The exact cause of the accident is still under investigation.

The flooded Changda coal mine began operation in 1997 and was unlicensed, the official said.

It was the second coal mine accident in three months in Dengfeng. The first accident occurred at Dengfeng coal mine in Baiping Township on July 13, killing 21 workers.

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