Twelve miners trapped in Saturday's colliery fire in southwestern Guizhou Province were confirmed dead, according to the local rescue headquarters Tuesday.

"Though the burning fire at the mouth of the shaft was put out on Sunday morning, the miners are impossible to survive from the high temperature and toxic gas," said an official with the provincial supervision administration on coal mine work safety.

Guizhou Provincial Coal Mine Safety Bureau released that the fire broke out at about 11:20 PM Saturday at the Xiangshui Coal Mine located at the Panxian County of Liupanshui City.

Investigation showed that an abnormally large quantity of gas spilled underground caused the fire, said the official who declined to give his name, according to Xinhua.

Further investigation into the accident is underway.

(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2005)