All 34 miners trapped in Sunday's coal mine fire fed by more than four tons of explosives in north China's Shanxi Province were confirmed dead after rescuers recovered the bodies of the eight remaining miners yesterday.

The eight bodies were found in a pond close to a laneway, where rescuers assumed the victims had sought shelter from fire and smoke.

Another 26 bodies were retrieved from the pit Tuesday night.

The miners either suffocated or drowned at Nanshan Colliery in Wangyu Village of Lingshi County, where more than four tons of explosives illegally stored in a shaft ignited at 7:40pm on Sunday.

Sixty-six people were in the pit when the fire broke out, emergency rescue headquarters said. Thirty escaped and two were saved in the search-and-rescue operation.

Rescuers found two storage sites in the shaft. One of them caught fire and the other, about 20 meters from the first, contained about four tons of explosives, all of which were ignited by the flames, said Feng Kaicheng, vice head of Lingshi County and head of the rescue operation.

By Tuesday noon, the flames were extinguished and toxic gas levels dropped by midday yesterday.

Most of the miners were migrant workers from eastern Shandong Province and southwestern Sichuan Province, and some of their families have arrived at the coal mine.

Families of each of the dead will be given at least 200,000 yuan (US$25,000) in compensation.

Police are searching for several of the coal mine managers, including the top manager Geng Runyu, who fled after the accident.

Nanshan is a village-run colliery designed to produce 90,000 tons a year. Its license expired more than six months ago.