13 remain trapped; officials say owner failed to report accident

JIXI, Heilongjiang - Work to rescue 13 miners trapped in a flood on Tuesday in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province is still under way, but the efforts have met with difficulties because of the mine owner's concealing, local safety official said on Friday.

Twenty-four miners were working in the Jindi coal mine in Jixi city, Heilongjiang province, when the accident occurred on Tuesday. Eleven managed to escape.

The local government was unaware of the accident until it was tipped off by the public on Wednesday afternoon, the State Administration of Work Safety said.

"The owner of the mine and the other person responsible for the accident will certainly be severely punished for concealing the accident," Fang Dongchu, head of the city's safety bureau, said at a news conference on Friday.

The miners have been trapped in areas 550 to 600 meters below ground, their usual operation area. Local safety authorities estimated the total volume of leaked water to be 15,000 cubic meters.

As of Friday afternoon, about 6,410 cubic meters of water had been drained from the mine, but none of the trapped miners had been found, Fang said.

So far, it was hard to judge when to drain all the water because of the unknown situation underground, he said.

"My younger brother is trapped underground now. I have no idea when all the water in the pit will be drained, but I'll be waiting here," Wang Yongsheng, a 45-year-old resident, said on Friday.

On Thursday, an inspection team was been sent by the State Administration of Work Safety to investigate.

The cause of the accident can only be determined after all the water has been drained from the pit, local authorities said.

The privately owned Jindi mine was established in 2005 and was legally licensed, authorities said. It has a yearly production of 90,000 tons.