A national investigation team was officially set up yesterday by the State Council to find the cause of the Daxing Coal Mine flooding in Guangdong. The same day all 15 miners trapped after another colliery flooding in Jiangxi last month were at last confirmed dead.

While the principal work is still focused on rescuing the 122 miners still trapped underground at Daxing, an investigation into the accident's cause is also urgent, Li Yizhong, director of the investigation team, told a press conference in Xingning City.

"We should find out why the accident happened as quickly as possible, so we can prevent such disasters from happening again," said Li, also director of the State Administration of Work Safety.

Preliminary investigations suggested the local government had not been properly supervising mines in the area, as Daxing had been operating for several years without necessary production licenses, Li said.

"Daxing continued mining even after the provincial government issued an order to suspend production at all local mines in the wake of the tragedy on July 14 in Xingning that killed 16 miners," said Li, referring to a flooding at Fusheng Coal Mine in Luogang Township.

"The coal mine obtained a safety certificate early in June, but it was found not to meet mine production safety standards. We should find out why the local government approved the certificate," Li added.

According to Li, mine officials and some top local officials should bear responsibility for the accident. Prior to yesterday, two local mayors had been removed from their posts for failing to properly supervise the mine and 11 mine staff detained.

Ten miners who had remained missing after a flood at a licensed coal mine in Jiangxi five weeks ago have finally been confirmed dead, local government sources said on Thursday, bringing the death toll to 15.

Jiangxi's Coal Mine Forensic Sciences Center established there was no chance of survival for them, though their bodies have not been found yet.

As the shaft has been flooded for such a long time the coal-bearing rock has became waterlogged, which is likely to cause new collapses and casualties, according to the forensic sciences center.

The recovery operation was called to a halt after rescue headquarters and the families of the trapped miners reached a consensus.

The flooding occurred at around 4 PM on July 7 in Shangli County when 16 miners were working underground. Only one escaped.

Local government sources said each family of the 15 victims received compensation of between 170,000 and 190,000 yuan (US$21,000-23,500) yesterday.

All the dead miners were from villages nearby.

(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2005)