BEIJING (Reuters) – Eight miners have been rescued and 21 are still trapped in a coal mine that flooded in the Xinjiang region of northwest China, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday, citing a local emergency department.
Part of the mine was flooded, leading to power outages just after 6 p.m. (1000 GMT) on Saturday, when 29 miners were working at the mine in Xinjiang’s Hutubi province, the report said.
In a separate report, state media outlet Global Times said 12 of the miners detained are in the mine as of Sunday and are expected to be rescued, while a further nine workers have not been located.
Chinese mines are among the deadliest in the world.
In January, it was confirmed that ten prospectors were killed in an explosion at a mine in the Chinese coastal province of Shandong.
In December, 23 people were killed after being trapped in a mine in the southwestern city of Chongqing. Three months earlier, 16 people died in a separate coal mine in the same area.
State media said on Sunday that rescues in the Xinjiang mine were underway.
Reporting by Cate Cadell in Beijing and Sabahatjahan Contractor in Bengaluru; Editing by Jacqueline Wong