Rescue efforts continued yesterday at the Guangdong Province colliery where 122 miners remained trapped, but there was no further word on the fate of the missing men.
Water levels in the privately owned Daxing Coal Mine in Ningxing City were dropping as two more high-powered water pumps were put into use yesterday. But aside from a body recovered on Wednesday, the location of the miners remained unknown.
China's coal production watchdogs were assigned yesterday to investigate the flooding mishap.
A special investigation team was set up by the State Council, China's Cabinet yesterday.
Li Yizhong, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, and Zhao Tiechui, director of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, were appointed to head the effort.
The team will investigate the cause of the accident and determine responsibility for the flooding, Li said during a meeting yesterday afternoon in Ningxing.
Guangdong Governor Huang Huahua said at the meeting that the province would learn from the tragedy and improve safety management in its coal mines to avoid similar accidents.
The flooding occurred at 1:30pm on Sunday. As water rushed into the mining area 440 meters underground, only four men were able to escape.
The preliminary cause of the mishap has been tied to violation of production safety rules.
Eleven people, including the mine's owner, manager, board chairman and chief technician, were caught attempting to flee after the accident.
In a separate incident, 15 miners who had been trapped in a flooded coal mine in Jiangxi Province for more than a month were confirmed dead, government sources said yesterday.
Workers recovered the bodies of five miners, while 10 others remain underground, the sources said.
(Xinhua)