Miners trapped in flooded coal pit in China

Beijing: Rescue workers saved six miners from a flooded coal pit in China, authorities said on Sunday, but 18 others remain trapped.

The State Administration of Coal Mine Safety said the flood swamped the mine in Yuzhou city in Henan province early on Sunday morning.

A duty officer who answered the phone at the agency said six miners were rescued and 18 were still trapped underground.

The officer said the cause of the flood was unclear and was still being investigated.

The official Xinhua News Agency said 62 miners were doing maintenance work in the shaft and 38 managed to escape when the flood occurred.

Xinhua said the mine is owned by the Hebi Coal Industry (Group) Co. Ltd., based in Henan's Hebi city.

Phone calls to the mine owner and the Yuzhou city coal mine safety bureau rang unanswered Sunday.

This is the latest in a string of mining related incidents in China, which has the world's deadliest coal-mining industry.

A total of 3,786 Chinese coal miners died in gas blasts, flooding and other accidents in 2007, down 20 per cent from 2006.