Seven people were trapped underground in a coal mine flooding
accident Tuesday night in Benxi Autonomous County of Manchu
Nationality in northeast China's Liaoning Province, sources with the provincial
coal industry administration confirmed Thursday.
At around 8:00 PM Tuesday, a flooding accident occurred at
Cuijingzhu Coal Mine in the county, affecting the adjacent Gaosihai
Coal Mine and trapping seven workers underground.
Rescue work is underway, the sources said.
The two collieries, each with an annual production capacity of
10,000 tons, should have been shut down according to law. They had
been closed earlier this month, but resumed production
illegally.
The cause of the accident is being investigated.
(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2007)