HARBIN - Three of the 26 miners who were trapped for more than 100 hours in a flooded pit in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province were rescued on Saturday, the rescue command center said.

It said three of the survivors had been sent to hospital, and rescuers were still helping the fourth one back to the ground as of 7:20 p.m.

Rescuers had drained 56,150 cubic meters of water as of 2 p.m. Saturday and the water level dropped by 10.44 meters.

The flooding occurred on August 23, when 45 miners were working in a pit of the Hengtai Coal Mining Co. in Boli County of Qitaihe City. Nineteen miners managed to escape.

The provincial government ordered the mine to stop production in 2007.  But the owner restarted production without permission on August 16, according to the local work safety bureau.

The accident happened after workers mistakenly drilled into a neighboring mine.