No signs of life in flooded coal mine

A rescue worker walks towards an entrance of the flooding accident of Wangjialing Coal Mine to search the surviving miners, in northern China's Shanxi province April 3, 2010. [Agencies]

The water level underground had dropped by 5.5 meters by Saturday noon after a total of 86,600 cubic meters of water had been pumped from the shaft.

Rescuers said the trapped miners were working on nine different platforms, and four platforms had not been totally submerged, making it possible that some workers could have survived.

The flooding happened at about 1:40 p.m. Sunday when underground water gushed into the pit of Wangjialing Coal Mine, which was under construction. Altogether 261 miners were working underground, and 108 were lifted safely to the surface.

Rescuers said the flooding took place when workers digging tunnels broke through into an old shaft filled with water.

The mine, which straddles Xiangning County, of Linfen City, and Hejin, a county-level city within Yuncheng City, covers about 180 square kilometers.

The mining zone was estimated to have more than 2.3 billion tonnes of coal reserves, including 1.04 billion tonnes of proven reserves, according to the company's official website.

The mine, affiliated to the state-owned Huajin Coking Coal Co. Ltd., is a major project approved by the provincial government. It is expected to produce 6 million tonnes of coal annually once in operation.

If the trapped workers cannot be saved, the accident will be China's worst mining disaster in more than two years. In August 2007, a total of 181 workers died at two flooded coal mines neighboring each other -- 172 at one mine -- in Xintai, eastern Shandong Province.