All 16 trapped coal miners in a gasblast on early Friday morning in north China's Shanxi Province were confirmed dead by local work safety authorities on Saturday morning.

The blast occurred at 3:10 AM. Friday at the Shiyawan Coal Mine in the Pinglu district of Shuozhou city when 48 miners were working underground. Thirty-two people escaped from the scene.

Rescuers found the body of the last missing miner Saturday morning.

The Shiyawan Coal Mine is a township coal mine with all licenses for production, and the annual production of the coal mine is about 90,000 tons.

After the tragedy, all the 66 coal mines under the jurisdiction of the Pinglu district were ordered to stop production to have safety check-ups.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation.
 
(Xinhua News Agency November 6, 2004)