Hopes for trapped miners fade

Hopes faded yesterday for 102 Chinese workers trapped in a flooded coal mine after water levels inside the pit failed to drop by the evening, while an explosion at another mine killed 14 people, state media reported.

The flooding at the colliery in Xingning in the southern province of Guangdong on Sunday was believed to have been caused by miners accidently breaking through into an underground water channel, China Central Television said. "Chances of the trapped workers surviving are relatively small," the Xinhua news agency quoted a vice mayor of nearby Meizhou as saying.

By yesterday morning, the mine was filled with 15 million to 20 million cubic metres of water, he said.

China relies on coal for more than two-thirds of its energy needs but accidents in the mining industry - the world's most dangerous - claimed 2,700 lives in the first half of this year alone.

The China News Service said adjoining mines had been ordered to suspend production and evacuate workers.

Further west, 14 miners were killed yesterday and two were missing in a gas explosion at a mine in Liupanshui, in southwest Guizhou province. Only 23 miners managed to escape, Xinhua said.

Last month flooding at a coalmine in Xingning killed 16 workers, Xinhua said.