The disaster took place at the Yuanda coal mine in Xingtai City in northern China's Hebei Province, Xinhuanet reported.

Fourteen miners were underground but rescue operations found seven bodies within hours of the flooding. The whereabouts of the seven others are not known.

The owners of the coal mine have been detained by local police and an investigation into the cause of the flooding is under way.

In Liupanshui, in Guizhou province, a gas explosion on Friday at an underground mine left 17 miners unaccounted for. No other details were available.

However there was also cause for rejoicing in Hebei province when a coal miner was rescued 11 days after the shaft he was working in collapsed.

China Daily reported that Yuan Shenglin, 26, was brought out of a mine in Hebei after a cave-in on November 6 killed 33 people.

Rescue workers 200m underground heard Yuan's voice on Wednesday. A plastic tube inserted through the collapsed rubble allowed food and water to be pumped to the miner.

A tunnel was built from an adjacent mine to reach the trapped miner.