ALL 69 miners trapped in the coal mine blast in North China's Shanxi Province have been confirmed dead and rescuers are still looking for the bodies of the last four miners.

　　The explosion at the Xishui colliery in Shuozhou City occurred at around 12:15 am on March 19. The blast tore through the neighbouring Kangjiayao coal mine, trapping 69 miners in the shaft.

　　Built in 1993, Xishui Coal Mine is licensed to produce

　　150,000 tons of coal annually, but actual production far exceeded that amount. A goal of the mine owner, as written in the mine's slogans, was to reach

　　450,000 tons a year, Oriental Horizon, a news programme aired by CCTV, said.

　　The mine was found to be failing to meet safety standards on March 14 and was ordered to suspend production. But according to the miners, the suspension only lasted one and a half days. The mine's owners ordered miners back to work soon after the supervision team left.

　　Such situations are common in the area. "Although the local government asked all mines in its prefecture to suspend production for checks and repairs when an accident occurred in the area, the response was not good. From July to December last year, accidents were reported every month," Oriental Horizon said.

　　Li Yizhong, director of the State General Administration of Work Safety, arrived at the site on the evening after the accident. Li has ordered all people within the government sector in charge of the safety inspection of mines to remain in the area to co-operate in a thorough investigation, which was carried out March 22 following the end of rescue efforts.

　　The initial investigation showed that the Xishui Colliery has many problems such as outdated technology, disorderly management and buying explosives without permission. Zhu Yi, from the Pinglu District safety inspection office, who was responsible for the inspection of mine safety in the district, was arrested for alleged "serious dereliction of duty".

　　The Supreme People's Procuratorate has ordered local procurators in the province to probe any official negligence that may have contributed to the accident.

　　It was only a month since the last major mine accident in Sunjiawan in Northeast China's Liaoning Province which claimed 214 miners' lives.

　　Premier Wen Jiabao promised at the National People's Congress earlier this month that the central government will spend 3 billion yuan (US$361 million) this year upgrading safety measures at coal mines. The amount needed is far more than that.

　　It was reported in an earlier Xinhua story that the arrears in investment for safety equipment in State-owned mines alone reached 5 billion yuan (US$602 million).

　　Families of victims of the Xishui accident could receive 200,000 yuan (US$24,000) compensation. To many relatives of the dead miners, the compensation is meaningless. Gao Xuemei, whose husband died in the accident, said she still had two sons who went to work in other cities as migrants.

　　"No matter how little they earn, I won't allow them to entermines," she said. (Star News)