The bodies of 43 of the 50 miners killed in an explosion inside a coal mine in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district have been brought to the surface, Bharat Coking Coal Limited Chief Managing Director Partho S Bhattacharya said on Friday.

"We have brought out 43 bodies from the mine, and 25 of them have been handed over to the next of kin after autopsy," Bhattacharya told PTI in Dhanbad. He put the death toll in the accident at Bhatdih mine at 50, and said efforts were on to bring to the surface the remaining bodies.

"BCCL has started distributing compensation and letters of employment to the next of kin of the dead miners," Bhattacharya said. "Extensive arrangements have been made for providing relief and other support to the affected families."

The miners were trapped inside Nagda colliery of BCCL at Bhatdhi on September six after an explosion. Officials said a majority had died due to carbon monoxide poisoning following the blast.

A total of 57 miners were inside at the time of the accident, but some managed to escape. Union Coal Minister Shibu Soren, who visited the site on Thursday, has announced compensation of Rs 3 lakh for each of the families of the dead workers and a job for their next of kin. Soren also ordered a departmental inquiry into the accident.