All 12 trapped miners confirmed dead

All 12 miners trapped underground at a coalmine in Heilongjiang province have been confirmed dead, a senior official said yesterday.

They were victims of a flood that occurred at Jinli Coalmine in Jixi city at about 5:30 am on Saturday. State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) spokesman Huang Yi described the accident as one involving "liability".

"The mine was operating illegally, as it had not been authorized by safety inspectors after production was halted in January," Huang said in an online interview.