Fifteen miners were trapped in a flooded coal mine Thursday in Shangli County, east China's Jiangxi Province, local government sources said.

The flooding occurred around 4 PM Thursday in a licensed coalmine located in Chishan Township, when 16 miners were working beneath the shaft. One miner managed to escape while the 15 others remain trapped till press time.

The local government rushed to cope with the emergency but the rescue effort were affected by the limited drainage capacity. More than 6,000 cubic meters of water needed to be vented but currently only 40 stares were drained per hour, according to experts.

All the trapped miners are local farmer peasants, according to local government.

The rescue operation is still underway.

Gas combustion kills 3 in Inner Mongolia

A gas combustion happened Wednesday in the Wangzifen Coal Mine in Chifeng City's Nianfangzi Township, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, leaving three dead, said the local administration of coal mine safety supervision.

As of Thursday, the investigation into the cause of the combustion is still going on.

(Xinhua News Agency July 8, 2005)