Rescuers confirmed that all six miners who were trapped last Thursday in a coal mine gas blast in central China's Hubei Province were dead.

Rescuers said they found the remains of four miners late on Monday. The bodies of two others were found on Saturday. The trapped miners, all male, were in their 30s and 40s.

The blast took place late on Thursday night at the Dakuaitian Coal Mine in Zigui County.

The county government sealed the files and documents of the mine, which was fully licensed with 37 staff, shortly after the incident. The cause of the blast is under investigation.

(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2008)