Rescue work ended early on Sunday after the last two missing miners were found dead at a colliery in southwest China's Guizhou Province, where a gas leak killed 35 last Thursday.

The last two dead bodies were retrieved at 2:30 AM and 3:24 AM respectively on Sunday, said sources with the emergency rescue headquarters at Qunli Colliery in Nayong County.

Eighty-six miners were working in the shaft when the gas leak occurred at 1:44 p.m. on Thursday. Of them, 52 were rescued, but one of them died after emergency treatment.

Management of the mine has agreed to compensate 200,000 yuan (US$26,667) for each victim.

The central government will send an investigation team to look into the cause of the accident.

Qunli is a licensed colliery designed to produce 300,000 tons of coal a year.

Following the accident, the provincial authorities ordered all coal mines in the county to suspend production for a safety overhaul.

(Xinhua News Agency November 11, 2007)