4 bodies discovered in flooded coal mine

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, October 13, 2003

4 bodies discovered in flooded coal mine

The search for 18 trapped miners in a flooded coal mine in Dengfeng City of central China's Henan Province has turned up four bodies, as 200 rescuers continue to look for survivors.

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The search for 18 trapped miners in a flooded coal mine in Dengfeng City of central China's Henan Province has turned up four bodies, as 200 rescuers continue to look for survivors.

Rescuers have dug a channel to reach the trapped miners in Changda coal mine but their fate is still unknown, said Zhou Zhenxiu, director of the Work Safety Bureau of Dengfeng City.

"The situation inside was more complex than we had expected," Zhou said, adding that thick gas and alluvial coal inside had hampered the rescue efforts.

The rescuers are still 30 meters away from the trapped miners as work continues to clear the shaft and pipes are sent underground to provide fresh air, he said.

A team of 700 rescuers has been working hard in shifts since the miners were trapped underground at 2:40 p.m. Thursday.

Zhou said it would take another two to three days to reach other miners as the safety of rescuers must be a priority given the dense gas inside. The possibility for the miners to survive was slim, he added.

The flooded Changda coal mine began operation in 1997 and had no legal license, according to sources with the rescue team.

It was the second coal mine accident in three months in Dengfeng. The first accident occurred at Dengfeng coal mine in Baiping township on July 13, killing 21 workers.

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