As the death toll rises to 104 in China's deadliest mining incident in two years, anger among the families of the victims mounts, as well.

More than 500 workers were in the mine in Heilongjiang province in northeastern China when the blast occurred on Saturday.

The Xinhua news agency said on Monday that the toll two days later was up to 104, with four still missing.

Of the 528 people reported working in the mine at the time of the explosion, 420 escaped.

Search and rescue efforts appeared to be over as relatives of the dead scuffled with police and demanded answers from the mine owners.

Monday's incident at the nearly 100-year-old mine near the Russian border shows the difficulties the Chinese government faces in trying to improve safety.

China says the closure of about 1,000 dangerous small mines last year has helped cut fatalities. Yet hundreds still die in major accidents each year, even at state-run mines.

In September 2007, at least 181 miners were killed when shafts at two neighboring mines flooded in eastern Shandong province.

In the first half of this year, 1,175 people died in officially recorded coal mine accidents across China, the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety reported.

AGB/TG/DT