Sat, April 28, 2012
YANHE, Guizhou, April 28 (Xinhua) -- A body was pulled out of a flooded coal mine on Saturday in southwest China's Guizhou province as an operation attempting to rescue 11 trapped miners entered its third day.
The deceased miner was found at about 1:40 a.m. when the water level in the shaft dropped about 1.5 meters, and rescuers are racing to reach 10 other miners who remain trapped under the Xinsheng Coal Mine in Qiaojia township, Yanhe Tujia autonomous county.
By 2:20 p.m., the water level had dropped about three meters and rescuers are pumping out water at a rate of 90 cubic meters per hour.
A rescue official previously said the inundated mine had two spaces above water that could offer refuge to the miners.
A total of 23 miners were working underground when the facility was flooded Thursday morning. Twelve managed to escape on their own.
The mine has a designated annual capacity of 90,000 tonnes.
