Rescuers continued their efforts to find the 15 miners trapped in a mine flooded on April 30 in Wuhai City in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, but experts said on Wednesday the miners' chances of survival were slim.

The rescuers successfully handled the drainage problem Wednesday afternoon and the water level underground was dropping by about 2.5 cm per hour, said the sources from the rescue team.

Rescue experts said that earlier drainage operation was inefficient because the water pumped out filtered into the tunnel again through the loose rocks on the drain. The rescuers later solved the problem by covering the drain with a plastic film to prevent leakage.

So far, six high-powered water pumps were working on the site and some 450 cubic meters of water was pumped out each hour.

An estimated 80,000 cubic meters of water poured into the mine's shaft and tunnel when the accident occurred and the officials with the rescue operation said it needed ten more days to pump out all the water.

Preliminary investigation showed the miners might have dug into an abandoned mine shaft filled with water or an underground spring. Owner of the coal mine, Wei Lian, came from Datong City in north China's Shanxi Province neighboring Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The coal mine was ordered to stop production for bad ventilation on April 28 by the local coal mine safety supervision administration. But the coal mine owner covertly resumed operation till the accident occurred.

Source: Xinhua