Rescuers found on Wednesday the bodies of other two miners who
were trapped in the flooded coal mine in north China's
Shanxi Province, raising the death toll to eight.
As of 10:00?PM Wednesday, the whereabouts of 20 other
miners still remain unknown.
After more than 100 hours' efforts, the water level in the
flooded mine went down by 70 meters and the underground ventilation
system resumed operation, which brought convenience tothe rescue
operation, said the rescue headquarters.
The accident took place at 3:30?PM Saturday in the
FanjiashanCoal Mine, located in the county of Linxian.
Altogether 58 miners were working under the shaft when the
flooding took place and only 30 managed to escape.
Officials from the State Administration of Work Safety have
already arrived in the county to organize the rescue operation
while the investigation team has started to find out the cause of
the accident.
(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2006)
