Officials have called off the search for bodies at the scene of a mining accident in southern China, which is at the centre of a government investigation after allegations that the local authorities had tried to cover up the scale of the disaster.

Officials now believe that 81 people died when the tin mine in Nandan county in Guangxi province flooded last month.

Initial reports suggested that several hundred miners were killed.

Several members of staff at the mine have been arrested, and at least five local government officials suspended or dismissed, as inquiries continue into the allegations of a cover-up.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service