The 13 miners trapped in a coal mine fire in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province were confirmed dead, Xinhua reported on Sunday.

The fire broke out Wednesday night at the privately-owned Taiyuan coal mine in Hegang city, Heilongjiang Province.

The coal mine owner had told authorities that no one was trapped in the accident that occurred at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.

But the city government and the provincial work safety watchdog received a tip-off Friday that 13 miners were trapped in the mine.

Investigations by the authorities, including visits to miners' families and inquiry of the mine owner, confirmed the tip-off.

Police in Hegang said on Sunday that they had detained five suspects. The mine's assets were also frozen.

Local police were also seeking a sixth suspect, who had fled.

The five suspects include the coal mine owner, a financial backer and three managers.

The government in Hegang city issued an urgent circular on Sunday asking that all 106 coal mines in the city halt production. The directive applies even to licensed facilities.

The government sent more than 106 staff to monitor all mines around the clock to ensure 100 percent compliance.

The circular also directed all miners working underground to leave the coal mines immediately.

The accident mine is a licensed one and has an annual production capacity of 90,000 tons.

Preliminary investigation shows that the accident was caused by the underground cable fire or welding operational errors, and the underground fire will continue for at least one week.

(Xinhua News Agency March 9, 2008)