All the 16 miners trapped in a central China colliery following a lethal gas leak on Monday were confirmed dead, the local government said early Friday as rescue work ended.

As of 1:53 a.m. Friday, rescuers had retrieved all their bodies, said a spokesman with the work safety administration in Dengfeng City, Henan Province.

The gas leak occurred late Monday in Sanyuandong Coal Mine in Dengfeng. Of the 127 miners working in the pit, 111 were evacuated in time.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation.

The mine has a designed annual output of 300,000 tonnes and is run by the state-owned Zhengzhou Coal Industry Co. Ltd.

The mine manager has been sacked and a chief engineer of its parent company suspended from duty after the accident.