China: 8 workers rescued 5 days after mine flooding

By Mahmut Atanur

BEIJING (AA) – Eight of 12 miners trapped underground for more than five days after a coal mine flooded in northern China have been rescued.

State news agency Xinhua cited local authorities in Shanxi Province as saying that rescue efforts are ongoing for the four who remain missing since the colliery in Jincheng city flooded late Saturday.

The eight rescued -- with whom contact had been made Sunday -- were taken to hospital for treatment Friday.

The State Administration of Work Safety had said that 94 miners were working underground when the accident occurred.

The mine was inundated at a time when torrential rains swept across China.

On Thursday, state media reported that at least 140 people were confirmed dead after a week of heavy downpour caused massive flooding that left more than 40 others missing.

Later in the day, Xinhua said that at least 35 people were killed after a landslide hit a village in the Kunlun Mountains in the northwest Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.