24 trapped after coal mine flood in China

Beijing: Two dozen workers are trapped in a flooded mine in northeast China, the latest accident in the country's notoriously dangerous coal industry.

A man at the State Work Safety Administration said on Sunday that the agency has dispatched a team to investigate the Saturday afternoon flood at a mine in Jixi city of Heilongjiang province.

The man refused to be identified and said no further details were available.

News of the trapped workers came one day after a blast at a workers' dormitory killed at least 17 people in a northern city with a history of deadly mine accidents.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the blast left a crater 20 metres across and about 5 metres deep.