Rescuers in China believe there is a slim chance that some of the 31 workers trapped for four days in a flooded coal mine could still be alive, state media said Thursday.
Workers were frantically trying to pump water out of the Luotuoshan Coal Mine in the Inner Mongolia region of northern China, which flooded early Monday, leaving one miner dead and 31 others trapped, Xinhua news agency said.
"Twelve of them are believed to be trapped at a mining platform 202 metres underground, at least 10 metres above the surface of the flood water," the report quoted emergency rescue spokesman Wu Qingfeng as saying.
But he admitted the other 19 miners were believed to be on a platform below the water-line and may have already drowned.
The mine is owned by the Shenhua group and is located in the city of Wuhai, about 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) west of Beijing.
China's coal mines are among the most dangerous in the world, with safety standards often ignored in the quest for profits and the drive to meet surging demand for coal — the source of about 70 percent of China's energy.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
