SHANGHAI, Aug 20 -- WATER levels have dropped in a flooded shaft where 172 miners are trapped, Xinhua news agency reported today.

The water level in the Shandong Province mine owned by Huayuan Mining Co had fallen to about 74 meters by 6am today, an 8.9-meter drop from 12 hours earlier.

Experts estimated there were at least 10.34 million cubic meters of flood water in the shaft, half of the water that burst into the mine through a breach at the Wenhe River.

Two water pumps are busy pumping out 400 cubic meters an hour.

Four more pumps will be put into use today, allowing rescue workers to pump out 5,000 cubic meters of water an hour. Water levels are not expected to rise again, according to rescue officials.

Authorities have confirmed the identities of the 172 mines, Xinhua said.

One-hundred-and-eleven of the trapped people are employees of the mining company while the rest are migrant workers from neighboring areas, mainly Tai'an City.

The city's government is contacting the victims' families and negotiating compensation issues, Xinhua said.

While rescue workesr work furiously to pump out water, officials admit the chances of any of the trapped miners surviving is slim.

Wood and sandbags are being used to block the breach in the river that led to the flood. More than 2,000 soldiers, police and miners expanded the bank to at least 20 meters yesterday. Most of them have been withdrawn from the bank.

The miners have been isolated since Friday afternoon when a 65-meter-long dike on the river burst, sending water rushing into the coal mine, stranding 172.

Nine more miners were trapped in a nearby mine shaft.

A total of 756 miners were working underground at the time of the flooding. Most of them escaped.

"There is some hope and we will exert 100 percent … no, 1,000 percent… effort to carry out the search and rescue," said Zhang Dekuan, a spokesman for the Shandong provincial government.

On Saturday, President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao called on government officials and rescue workers to do everything possible to save the miners.