'Owner stalled miners' rescue'

The owner of a private coal mine in southwestern Guizhou province is being investigated after allegedly trying to cover up an incident in which 16 miners were trapped underground by floodwater.

By press time, the miners were still unaccounted for.

The flood is thought to have happened around 4 pm on Wednesday at the Xinqiao coal mine, which is 95 km from the county seat of Qinglong in Qianxinan autonomous prefecture.