Staff at the Wulong Coal Mine and the Fuxin Coal Mine Safety Bureau would only say yesterday that all their senior managers were at the scene.

Xinhua said senior leaders from the Liaoning and Fuxin governments were directing the rescue operation and an investigation was under way.

Wulong Coal Mine had been in operation since 1957 and produced 2 million tonnes of coal a year, according to Xinhua.

In February last year, 214 workers were killed in an explosion at the Sunjiawan Coal Mine, also owned by the Fuxin Mining Group.

Meanwhile, the last body of the 56 miners killed when a coal mine flooded in Zuoyun, Shanxi , on May 18 was recovered yesterday, Xinhua said.

By the end of last week, the bodies of 24 dead miners had been brought to the surface after crews drained more than 416,000 cubic metres of water from the pit. The other bodies were retrieved earlier this week.

'The [search and rescue] work was complicated and that's why it took more than a month,' a county government official said.

The official said the relatives of each dead worker were given more than 200,000 yuan in compensation in compliance with central government rules and no more mining would take place at the site.

Owners of the mine initially claimed only five workers died in the flood and the cover-up hampered the rescue operation. At least 19 local officials have been detained over the cover-up.

In another case, six people, including the former chairman of the Shenlong Coal Mine Co in Xinjiang , were jailed for three to six years by the Intermediate People's Court in Fukang on Tuesday for their roles in a mine explosion which left 83 dead on July 11 last year, Xinhua said yesterday.

According to official figures, 5,938 people were killed in 3,341 coal mine accidents last year.

Top leaders have severely criticised local officials for colluding with mine owners who pay little attention to safety and often cover up accidents to evade responsibility.