All 12 miners have been confirmed dead in a coal mine flooding in southwest Sichuan Province, local authorities said Thursday.

Rescuers pulled the last two bodies out of the flooded shaft at the Zengjiagou Coal Mine in the city of Dazhou at about 6 p.m. on Tuesday, said a spokesman with the provincial work safety bureau.

By 5 p.m. Saturday, rescuers had recovered 10 bodies from the mine, which was flooded last Monday, when 30 miners were working underground. Eighteen of the miners managed to escape.

A manager in charge of safety has been detained and the owner of the coal mine is under police custody, the spokesman said.

An initial investigation into the accident has shown that the mine was operating illegally, he added.

A further probe into the cause of the flooding is under way.

Location map of Zengjiagou, Dazhu Country, Sichuan Province. [China.org.cn]