Rescue work was called off when the last miner's corpse was dug from the coal mine on Monday.

The cause of the accident was confirmed as a gas explosion, though further investigations will be carried out to find the exact cause and who was responsible, said an official with the bureau.

On November 26, the pit, run by the state-owned Dayan Coal Company, exploded while more than 300 miners were working underground.

Around 260 of them escaped, although 40 were trapped in the mine for 20 days.

The pit is one of three mines managed by the company. It is expected to return to normal operation soon after the investigation is finished, a source with the firm said.

Dayan Coal Company, which produces 2 million tons of coal annually and has 14,000 staff, was honoured for good standards in the past. It has had no major accidents in the last 15 years.

According to a report from the mining bureau, a total of 2,214 people died in 325 pit explosions across the country during the first nine months of the year.

The largest one happened in southwest China's Guizhou Province in September, which claimed 160 lives.

To curb the increasing number of coal mine explosions and improve safety, the bureau launched a winter inspection last month at coal mines in the provinces of Anhui, Shaanxi, Heilongjiang, Hunan and Jiangxi.

In Jiangxi Province alone, 52 small mines were shut down due to unsafe conditions, according to the bureau.

Out-dated equipment, financial problems and lax safety standards are the main problems facing coal mines, it said.

The ongoing inspection will continue until January.

In addition, the bureau issued regulations earlier this month that aim to standardize safety and improve management of mines.

They cover a wide range of fields such as safety inspections, accident investigations and penalties.

Coal companies responsible for explosions will be fined a maximum of 150,000 yuan (US$18,000).

More rules are being drafted, according to a bureau spokesman.

(China Daily 12/20/2000)