Miners Trapped in Flooded Coal Mine in north China

An underground flood trapped 24 coal miners in Datong City, north China's Shanxi Province on Sunday night, said the local government.

A total of 247 miners were working underground when the accident took place, out of whom 223 people have been evacuated so far.

The local government launched an emergency plan immediately to cope with the accident and start rescue operation.

The coal mine, now owned by the Datong Coal Mine Group, has an annual production capacity of 900,000 tons.

According to the initial investigation, the flooding was caused by water accumulation in a mined-out area of the colliery. Over 800 cubic miters of water have been drawn from the mine, but the water level has not obviously dropped so far.

Four pumps have been working to draw water from the pits, but no more pumps can be added since the wells are too shallow. More powerful pumps are on the way and will be installed to replace the smaller ones. Rescuers said it would take approximately two days to drain out all water.