MEXICO CITY, Feb. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- The 65 coal miners trapped underground in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila were all dead, the mining company announced at a press conference on Saturday. 
    

A miner who works at the Pasta de Conchos coal mine near San Juan de Sabinas, Coahuila state, Mexico, listens to the press conference Feb. 25, 2006. (Xinhua/AFP)

    The workers had been killed in a devastating gas explosion in the Pasta de Conchos mine, Javier Garcia, chairman of the board of the mine owner Group Mexcio Sa de CV, told reporters.

    Garcia said the bodies of the dead would be retrieved after toxic gas in mine tunnels was pumped out. He added the mining firm had offered 750,000 pesos (71,430 U.S. dollars) to each victim's family in compensation. 
    

Relatives of missing miners cry outside a mine complex near San Juan de Sabinas in northern Mexico February 25, 2006. (Xinhua/AFP)

    The company also planned to set up a trust fund to help children of the dead receive education, Garcia said.

    Mexican Labor Secretary Francisco Salazar Saenz said an investigation into the accident would begin next Monday to decide who were responsible for the tragedy.

    The pre-dawn explosion caused by gas built up inside the mine left the 65 miners trapped underground on Feb. 19.

    The mine owner Group Mexcio Sa de CV said on Friday night that the underground gas was so dense that rescue efforts had to be suspended for two to three days to avoid more explosions. Enditem