The Chinese Embassy in Albania confirmed Friday that rescue teams had found three bodies of trapped Chinese mining specialists in a chrome mine here, and that the bodies are being retrieved.

Two Albanian rescue teams were sent in for the search operation, together with Albanian and Chinese mining experts, after a hydrogen gas explosion occurred in the chrome mine on Saturday, said Mehmet Hasalami, head of the Albanian Mining Rescue Unit.

The Albanian government and the Chinese Embassy have also dispatched two separate working groups to the mine in the northern Albanian town.

One Chinese miner suffered minor injuries in the accident.

The chrome mine was run by Albanian Chrome, owned by Albania's Balfin Group. The Chinese mining experts were from Wenzhou Corporation of Mining Tunnel Design and contracted by Albanian Chrome, according to the Chinese Embassy.

source: Xinhua