The accident occurred last Wednesday at the Tangshi Colliery in Zhuzhou County of the nation’s Hunan province, according to Chinese news service Xinhua. The other 29 of the 33 miners working at the time escaped.
While two water pumps were broken while attempting to lower the mine’s water level, officials believe the mission may still be one of rescue rather than recovery because the miners had sufficient time to move above the water level, the news service said.
The Tangshi incident occurred just one day after another flooding accident at the Changshan Coal mine in Miquan City of the country’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Four miners were trapped as a result, and an investigation into the cause is underway.
