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Toll rises to 20 in Wangjialing, rescue resumed

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-04-08 21:45
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XIANGNING, Shanxi -- The death toll at the flooded Wangjialing Coal Mine in north China's Shanxi Province had risen to 20 as of 8:20 p.m. Thursday while 18 miners are still unaccounted for, rescue authorities said.

Three more bodies were recovered late Thursday after five were found earlier in the day.

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Rescue operations were resumed after a temporary suspension for a period because suspected leakage from an adjacent abandoned mine prompted flooding fears and an evacuation of the rescuers.

Hundreds of rescuers evacuated when the shaft ceiling began to leak Thursday morning, said Liu Dezheng, spokesman at rescue headquarters.

The leakage had stopped by Thursday afternoon.

A total of 261 miners were working below ground when the mine flooded on March 28. Some 108 miners escaped unharmed while 153 were trapped underground.

On Monday, 115 miners were brought out of the mine alive after being trapped for more than a week.