Seven rescued in NE China colliery flood

HARBIN - Seven miners had been rescued and 18 others remained trapped in a mud-rock flow accident that happened Monday in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, the provincial work safety authority said early Tuesday.

The accident occurred at 2:30 pm at a shaft of the Zhenxing Coal Mine located in the city of Hegang, according to local authorities.

The seven miners were on a tunneling team and the 18 others worked for coal excavating, said deputy chief engineer Yan Lizhang of Hegang subcompany of the Heilongjiang Longmay Mining Holding Group.

Zhenxing Coal Mine was started in December 1990. It had been designed to produce 600,000 tonnes of coal a year, and the production capacity was assessed to be 420,000 tonnes in 2007.

The rescue work is still under way.