BEIJING
Rescue teams were racing against time Monday to find five workers reportedly trapped in a coal mine in China’s northeast Heilongjiang province after it flooded a week ago.
State news agency Xinhua cited local authorities in Hegang city, a major producer of coal, as saying that six miners had been rescued from the privately-owned Xuxiang Colliery as of Monday morning.
According to the colliery’s emergency rescue headquarters, four workers have been confirmed dead.
A total of 15 miners were reportedly trapped at around 5 p.m. (1000GMT) on July 20 when the pit flooded following rainfall, according to investigators.
China -- the world’s biggest consumer -- produces more than one-third of annual global coal output but accounts for more than two-thirds of mining deaths around the world annually, Mining Technology reported last year.
In April, 21 miners were killed after a coal mine where 247 people had been working at the time flooded in north Shanxi province.
Meanwhile, 11 miners trapped in a pit in central Yunnan province since Saturday were rescued through an excavated tunnel Monday.
Xinhua cited local authorities in Lianghe county as saying the tin mine had caved in Saturday afternoon after rainfall triggered a mudflow.
