Beijing ? A gas explosion ripped through a shaft 800 feet below the surface Monday in Liaoning province, killing 203 men in China’s deadliest coal mine accident in half a century, the government reported today.

The cause of the 3 p.m. blast at the Sunjiawan mine is under investigation, said the New China News Agency. Twenty-two people were reported injured and 13 still trapped underground.

“We think hardly anyone will come out alive,” said a local resident who would only give the name Dong. “The people working in this mine are migrants from all over the country. My neighbor’s son died down there, but there are no bodies yet since everything is buried.”

Residents said people from miles around rushed to the mineshaft entrance hoping to help rescue friends and relatives, despite the unlikely prospect of many survivors. Officials at Fuxin Coal Industry Group, the state mine owners, said all top officials were at the site as well, with production all but halted. The mine, about 100 miles west of Shenyang in one of China’s oldest coal mining regions, can produce 1.5 million tons annually.

China has suffered a spate of deadly mining accidents in recent months, despite a high-profile campaign to close smaller mines and improve safety standards. This is the worst reported accident since the Communists came to power in 1949, although China has a history of underreporting bad news.

Chinese mine owners have been widely accused of putting profits before safety. The world’s most populous nation produces about 35 percent of the world’s coal but accounts for 80 percent of coal mining-related deaths, according to government figures. Last year, more than 6,000 Chinese died in floods, explosions and fires in the nation’s shafts.

After each major accident, China issues warnings and mounts high-profile campaigns on the need for greater safety. But the nation’s thirst for energy remains huge.

“Every year this seems to be the No. 1 issue at various meetings,” said Kang Wu, China director at Fesharaki Associates in Honolulu, an energy consultant. “But on the local level, the economic pressure is very high.”