(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-06 19:44

XINTAI, Shandong -- The 172 miners trapped in a flooded coal mine in East China's Shandong Province will not be found alive, according to a statement released by the provincial government.

After 20 days of rescue efforts, the statement quoted "life scientists" as saying the miners "will not return alive".

The main shaft of the Huayuan mine in Xintai was filled with floodwater on August 17, while miners were working deep underground.

Rescuers were still pumping water out of the mine on Thursday and had extracted 1.57 million cubic meters of water by Wednesday.

There was still no word on the fate of the other nine miners trapped by flooding in the nearby Minggong mine.