The possibility that the 81 people are still alive is quite slim.

The magistrate and vice-magistrate of Nandan County, and secretary and vice-secretary of Nandan County Party Committee have been removed from office by the autonomous region government.

Two corpses were discovered Tuesday in the mines, 21 days after the July 17 accident.

Earlier, it was estimated that more than 300 miners were trapped in the Lajiapo Mine and Longshan Mine, which are 116 metres below sea level.

The bodies have been badly affected by the water and are proving hard to identify, Xinhua said.

The investigation team sent by the central government is still attempting to help identify the latest victims.

Meanwhile the official probe has found that the water leak affected five other mines in the area.

But the team has focused its work to date on Lajiapo Mine and Longshan Mine because of the serious nature of the situation there, Beijing Morning Post reported Tuesday.

According to the Xinhua, Premier Zhu Rongji has asked authorities at all levels to spare no efforts in the bid to save survivors, to find the real cause of the tragedy and to determine the death toll as soon as possible.

A mine collapse accident was reported in Nandan last year in which about 200 people were killed. But the local authority of Nandan County covered the truth of the accident, according to the Xinhua website.

Seventy per cent of the tax income of Nandan, a county with abundant tin reserves, comes from mining. And private owners of the county's major mines are big contributors to the area's financial revenues.

Five Top Mine Disaster County Officials Punished

Five top officials of Nandan County in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have been either dismissed from their posts or suspended for neglecting their duties.

The investigation team into the July 17 Nandan mine flood, claimed after investigation that the top officials of Nandan County were responsible for the flooding of mines there July 17.

The regional party committee decided Monday to dismiss Wan Ruizhong from his post as secretary of the Nandan County Party Committee, and dismiss Tang Yusheng and Mo Zhuanglong, deputy secretaries of the county party committee from their posts.

Simultaneously, the regional government decided to suspend Tang Yusheng, also head of Nandan County, and Wei Xueguang, deputy head of the county, from their posts.

The regional party discipline inspection committee and the regional supervision department will further investigate these officials.

Cao Bochun, head of the regional party committee, has asked for severe punishment of those responsible for the accident.

The regional party committee has appointed Wu Xianhua as secretary of the Nandan County Party Committee.

Official Urges Ferreting Out of Mine Flooding Cause

Li Rongrong, head of the State Economic and Trade Commission, said Tuesday that breakthrough has been made in the investigation of Guangxi's tin mine flooding that has left 81 miners missing.

The State Council will dispatch an investigation group to Guangxi, south China, to find out the cause of the accident as soon as possible.

Two tin mines in Nandan County of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region were flooded on July 17, and the accident had not been reported until half a month later. An investigation group from the central government went to Nandan County on August 4.

Li said preliminary investigation shows that organized criminal gangs are found to have involved in causing the accident and holding back the truth. The State Council investigation group will carry a thorough probe into the accident.

So far five top county officials have been either dismissed from their posts or suspended for neglecting their duties.

( People’s Daily 08/08/2001)