Disaster prompts calls to find, fill 'lost shafts' left by illegal digs

Abandoned mines put lives and future construction at risk, experts tell Cao Li in Beijing

As rescue teams continue to search for 153 people trapped in a mine flood in Shanxi, early investigations suggest the disaster was caused by water from an adjoining abandoned shaft.

Officials say water began to gush into the State-owned Wangjialing Coal Mine after a worker carelessly ruptured a wall separating two tunnels, according to media reports on Monday.