Rescuers in North China's Shanxi Province have pumped more than 100,000 cubic metres of water out of the pit in which 56 miners have been trapped for 13 days.

Experts estimate that about 200,000 cubic metres of water filled the mine and the hope of finding any of the missing miners alive is slim.

The catastrophic flooding occurred at around 8:30pm on May 18. At the time at least 266 miners were in the pit, 210 of whom managed to escape.

The number of trapped miners has been revised from 57 to 56.

Four more people, including labour contractor Duan Jingli and three water detection workers, have now been detained, bringing the number of people in police custody to 19.

A panel authorized byState Council has been set up at the mine on Saturday to investigate the accident.

Meanwhile three miners were killed in Dongliao County, Jilin Province, on Monday, when the ceiling of a coal mine collapsed, sources from the Provincial Administration of Work Safety said.

The victims including Dong Guowei and Wang Zhongxu were among six miners trapped when the tragedy occurred at 7:40 pm in the private colliery. The other three managed to escape.

The mine was not qualified for production and was undergoing safety work, officials said.

He Shijie, a spokesman with the administration said medical workers were sent down into the pit to administer emergency treatment, but to no avail. The body of the first victim was found at 9:00 pm on Monday and the other two were dug out yesterday morning.

Mine owner Zhang Gui has agreed to pay the families of the victims 200,000 yuan (US$25,000) each in compensation, according to Yang Zhigang, director of Liaoyuan Bureau of Work Safety.

(China Daily 05/31/2006 page2)