Nineteen coal miners who were trapped for more than 24 hours following a gas explosion and a fire in a Hegang mine in northeastern China are presumed dead.

The accident trapped 52 workers last Wednesday, but a rescue team saved 33 of the workers.

The remaining 19 workers left inside the tunnel couldn't possibly survive the explosion since carbon monoxide levels were dangerously high that one breath is enough to kill a person, said a spokesman for the mining company.

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The spokesman added that fire lingered in the blast site and the mining site was presumed to have a temperature of 1,000 degrees Celsius.

Mine accidents have been a common occurrence in the region in the last few years.

In 2009, 108 miners were killed in an explosion in the Longmay mine located in Hegang.

Last month, 22 workers lost their lives to a fire in a Longmay coal mine located in Jixi. The company was criticized for poor work supervision, maintenance issues and delayed response to the fire.

The mine that recently exploded on Wednesday was a small and privately-owned company.  

Most of the private mines are complacent on safety guidelines compared to government-owned mines.

Ma, a former employee at the Longmay coal mine, revealed that these accidents are common, particularly in private coal mines.

"There are just too many accidents. Every day the workers have to get in a car and are lowered hundred of meters underground," said Ma, who also said sometimes the cars drop suddenly and the workers die on the spot.

Ma added that even occurrences of death often go unreported, and that the death of a few workers was not considered an issue. The proprietor of the mine would usually give a small financial compensation to the affected family to settle things up.

Tags19 coal miners, trapped, Mining, hegang, Dead, Longmay mine, coal mine