Sixty-nine miners are trapped in a flooded state-owned coal mine in central China's Henan Province, the local government said in Beijing on Monday.
The flooding occurred Saturday morning at a coal mine in Shanxian County, about 200 km west of Zhengzhou, capital of Henan, when 102 miners were working underground, the rescue headquarters said.
Thirty-three managed to escape but 69 were trapped, it said.
"The rescue operation is going on in an orderly way and the most import task is to try every effort to pump water for the time being," Xinhua news agency quoted an official with the headquarters as saying.
Rescuers are also ordered to use the ground ventilation system to supply wind to the flooded mine and drill holes from the ground to the shaft where miners are trapped to ensure enough oxygen.
Floodwater triggered by rainstorms Saturday night swamped the mine through an aluminium mine pit and an old shaft, officials said adding that initial volume of water came from a nearby river.
Head of the State Administration of Work Safety, Li Yizhong has arrived at the mine to direct rescue operation.
A total of 1,792 coal miners died in 1,066 mishaps in China, the world's top coal producer and consumer, during the first half of this year.
In 2006, coal mine accidents killed 4,746 people in China in 2006 with an average of 13 deaths per day.
