Rescuers worked to save 31 coal miners trapped under­ground by a flood early Monday in northern China, the state media reported.

Rescuers pumped water from the Mt. Camel Coal Mine in Wuhai city in the northern region of Inner Mongolia, where the flood trapped the miners earlier in the day. An initial in­vestigation showed 46 of the 77 miners working in the flood­ed pit had been rescued and 31 remain trapped, it said.

Although China’s mine safety record has improved in recent years, it is still the deadliest in the world. According to China’s Work Safety Administration, 2,631 people died in coal mine accidents in 2009. Many were blamed on lax safety methods and poor training as mining companies scramble to feed the country’s voracious demand for coal.

Өдрийн шуудан сонин