By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer

BEIJING (AP) - A gas explosion in a northeastern Chinese coal mine killed at least 43 miners, the government said Tuesdsay, the latest tragedy to strike China's notoriously deadly mining industry.

A 30-person rescue team knew immediately that 39 miners died after the gas explosion Monday at the Dingsheng mine, located in the Hegang municipality of Heilongjiang province in far northeastern China, the official Xinhua News Agency said. But they initially thought four others might have survived.

Such explosions are usually caused by lack of ventilation to disperse coal gas that builds up during the mining process.

China's notoriously unsafe coal mines have killed more than 3,400 people already this year — and more than 150 miners in the past month alone. The worst offenders are typically small, privately owned mines that can operate outside the supervision of safety agencies.

The central government, under pressure to boost safety, has promised to shut down mines where deadly accidents occur and punish operators, giving owners an incentive to conceal deaths and duck responsibility.

The official Communist Party newspaper reported Monday that another mine in northeastern China where a gas explosion killed 115 workers last month had been instructed to shut down at least seven times before the accident.

The Chengzihe mine in Jixi, a town in Heilongjiang province, was plagued by mismanagement, had not undergone routine inspections and ignored safety procedures, People's Daily said.

A local inspection team went to the mine, which lacked money to update out-of-date equipment, just days before the June 20 accident, it said.

A man who answered the phone Monday at the Chengzihe mine refused comment.

On Sunday, the government convened a national teleconference of provincial and local governments to discuss mine safety strategies and urge agencies at all levels to stem the tide of fatalities.

"Enterprises turning a deaf ear to safety regulations and management processes are the main reason for the recent disasters," said Zhao Tiechui, deputy director of the State Administration of Work Safety Supervision.

The central government will launch "a massive and continuous inspection campaign" to determine whether its orders to shut down rogue coal mines are being followed, Zhao said.

Also Sunday, the owner of a northeastern China coal mine where an explosion trapped 39 workers in a pit last week surrendered to police after family members encouraged him to turn himself in, Xinhua said.

Chen Xiaoguo, 37, was taken into custody Sunday morning, the news agency said, quoting Li Shuguo, the mayor of Baishan city. Chen had been missing since Thursday's accident in the Fuqiang mine.

Rescuers recovered two bodies after going underground through a separate pit and digging through to the area of the blast. Officials have said they hold out little hope of finding survivors.