Rescuers recovered the body of the last miner who went missing in a coal mine flooding 12 days ago in central China's Hunan Province Saturday morning, bringing the death toll to nine.

Rescuers found the body, which was buried in mud, around 5:20 AM when they were clearing the tunnels, said Yan Yinchu, deputy director of the provincial coal mine safety supervision authority.

A shaft of the Changcheng Coal Mine, Zhuzhou City, was suddenly flooded around 3:40 PM on April 16 when 31 miners were working underground. Nineteen miners escaped safe and sound, and 12 others were trapped underground.

Rescuers found three trapped miners alive on April 21. They recovered the bodies of eight miners one day later.

Liu Guihua, one of the three survivors, said the last miner was with them when the flood occurred. However, the miner left Liu and other two miners because he did not agree with their judgment of a flood.

"He thought it's a fire ignited by electric spark. We couldn't persuade him to escape with us and he chose a different way," said Liu.

The privately-owned Changcheng Mine, with a production capacity of 30,000 tons a year, was operating with a valid license and certificates.

In another accident in Yongxing County in Hunan, rescuers are searching for eight missing miners who have been feared dead after a gas blast on April 20. The mine owner escaped after the accident and did not report the blast.

(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2007)