DENGTA, Liaoning -- All five miners who were injured in a colliery flood have been taken off the hospital critical list as rescuers continue to search for the three others still missing after the accident on Tuesday morning in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

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"Rescuers have pumped the water out of the flooded shaft but have been unable to find the missing men who may be trapped in a collapsed section of the shaft," said Shang Chunjie, a local coal mine administrator.

Eight miners were trapped when the accident occurred at 10:50 a.m. Tuesday at the privately-owned Dahenan Colliery in Huazi Township in Dengta, a city about 50 kilometers south of provincial capital Shenyang.

Three of the miners managed to escape the pit by themselves and two others were saved in the search-and-rescue operation that began within 30 minutes of the accident being reported, said a Dengta city government spokesman.

Surging demand for winter coal has spurred production but also caused a string of deadly accidents.

In one of the most recent tragedies, a colliery flood killed six miners and left two missing in southwestern Guizhou Province on Sunday.

On Monday, 25 people were confirmed dead and nine others missing in a deadly coal mine fire in north China's coal-rich Shanxi Province.