All 21 miners, trapped in a flooded coalmine in Dengfeng city, central China's Henan province two weeks ago, have been confirmed dead, said a local government source on Sunday.

The last three bodies were found by the rescue team Saturday afternoon.

The flooding occurred at the Dongfeng Coal Mine, Baiping township, on the evening of July 13, and only a half of the 42 miners who were working in the mine managed to escape the accident.

A rescue team of more than 500 people failed to bring any of the trapped miners out of danger despite their utmost effort because of the difficult conditions underground.

Relatives of the 21 victims have received compensation, the source said.

An all-round official investigation into the cause of the accident would be launched on Monday.
 
(Xinhua News Agency   July 28, 2003)