With the last dead body of seven missing miners found in the coalmine blast on June 15 in northwest China's Shaanxi Province that claimed the lives of 23 people, the rescue operation came to an end.

Investigation into the cause of the major explosion has been conducted in a tense manner, an official with Shaanxi Provincial Bureau for Supervision of Safety in Workplaces said Friday.

The gas blast took place at the No.1 coalmine of Huangling Mining Group, Huangling County, some three hours' bus ride from Xi'an, the provincial capital, at about 4:50 p.m. on June 15 when 86 miners were working underground.

Sixty-five of them were rescued, leaving 14 miners dead and seven missing. Two rescue workers were killed during the rescue operation.

Built in 1991, the state-owned coalmine was listed as one of China's key mining projects with an annual production capacity of 6 million tons.

Source: Xinhua