China

28 trapped in flooded Sichuan coal mine

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-22 07:47

CHENGDU - Rescue operations were under way in a flooded coal mine in Southwest China's Sichuan province where 28 people were trapped as of press time on Sunday.

A pit of the Batian Coal Mine in Xiaohe town in Weiyuan county was flooded at around 11:40 am on Sunday when 35 people were working below ground.

"Thirteen of them managed to escape, following which six rescuers went underground and have yet to emerge," said Song Jianjun, deputy chief of the Weiyuan county work safety bureau.

According to the county information office, production at the Batian Coal Mine had been suspended as it was undergoing renovations to increase its annual output from 50,000 tons to 60,000 tons.

Rescuers started pumping water from the shaft in the afternoon and more pumping equipment had been sent from Chengdu to the site.

More than 100 medical workers were standing by to provide first-aid but no signs of life had been detected yet.

In a similar incident, three workers were trapped in a flooded iron mine in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Saturday night. Rescue work continued on Sunday.

- Huang Zhiling