Rescuers recovered the body of miner at a flooded mine site in China's northeastern Liaoning Province on Friday afternoon and were continuing to search for five others still missing.

The accident occurred at around 2 p.m. on Thursday when water began to fill the shaft of a mine of the Magou Mining Co. Ltd under the Lianshan Molybdenum (Group) Corp. in Huludao City. The trapped miners were working 70 to 100 meters below sea level at the time of the accident.

Currently, there is nearly 4,200 cubic meters of water in the pit of the molybdenum mine and the flooding continues. The rescue mission has been made more difficult by piled-up ore blocking many parts of the mine, according to rescue officials.

A 300-strong rescue team is pumping water out of the pit at a rate of 240 cubic meters an hour. They are working in shifts to conduct the search, according to the provincial safety supervision administration in Huludao.

The administration immediately ordered all iron ore mines, but not coal mines, to stop production, and undergo thorough safety inspections.

Huludao is one of the most important molybdenum ore production centers in China. The hard, silvery-white metallic mineral is used to strengthen steel alloys and soften tungsten alloys.

(Xinhua News Agency March 14, 2008)