Following Sunday's collapse in a small coal mine in central China's Hunan Province the death toll has risen from six to 12 after the bodies of the last four missing miners were recovered on Wednesday, rescuers said.

The accident at the Guanyin Coal Mine of Anping Township, Lianyuan City, occurred at around 1 PM on Sunday when 48 miners were working underground. Thirty-three escaped with three of them being treated in a local hospital.

The boss of the mine and several managers fled after the incident and their whereabouts is unknown, say local authorities. A relative of the boss sent 300,000 yuan (US$37,500) to the local government to help cover rescue costs.

The mine had a designed annual production capacity of 30,000 tons of coal. The mine's work safety license had been revoked before the accident and it has been ordered to suspend production, local authorities said.

The investigation into the cause of the accident continues.

(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2006)