The bodies were found by police, with the help of witnesses, in two different places 10 kilometres away from the mine.

Investigation will continue, according to officials from the State Administration of Work Safety.

Those suspected of wrongdoing, including pit contractor Wang Quanquan and mine contractor Yin Shan, are still being sought by the police for allegedly hiding bodies and giving a false death toll to authorities, said Gong Anku, head of the provincial production safety administration, who is responsible for co-ordinating the investigation.

Previous reports said that two miners were confirmed dead out of 40 believed to have been working underground when an explosion ripped through Yixingzhai Gold Mine in Fanzhi County on June 22.

The majority of the casualties are farmers from Xunyang and Langao counties of the neighboring Shaanxi Province. Over 90 relatives of the miners arrived in Fanzhi after the accident.

In a separate accident, local authorities of Hebei Province in North China are still making efforts to rescue 16 miners trapped underground in Weixian County.

These miners were trapped last Monday when a flood caused the collapse of the mine.

Rescuers said that they still do not know if the miners are still alive.

(China Daily July 1, 2002)