CCTV says rescuers located 12 of the 21 trapped miners.
Eight miners were rescued and 21 remain trapped in a coal mine in China’s Xinjiang region after flooding that cut off power to the basement and disrupted communications, state media said.
The accident happened at the Fengyuan coal mine in Hutubi County on Saturday evening, as staff were improving the site, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.
Rescuers had located 12 of the 21 trapped miners, broadcaster CCTV said, but it was not clear if they were all together.
Rescue personnel were trying to pump water from the flooded well and forced air into the mine.
Pipes were being laid, but the pumping operation was going to be difficult, CCTV said.
Mining accidents are common in China, where the industry has a poor safety record and enforcement of regulations is often lax.
In January, 22 workers were trapped in a mine in east China’s Shandong province after an explosion damaged the entrance, leaving them trapped underground for about two weeks.
Eleven men were removed alive, 10 died and one minor remained missing.
In December, 23 miners died after being imprisoned underground in the southwestern city of Chongqing – just months after 16 other victims of carbon monoxide poisoning died at another coal mine in the city.
