Coalmine flooding in China kills 9

Nine miners have been killed and four injured when floods engulfed a colliery in southwest China, says the local mine industry watchdog.

Nine miners were killed and four injured when floods engulfed a colliery in southwest China's Chongqing municipality, the local mine industry watchdog said here Wednesday.

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About 800 cubic metres of water inundated the Lutang mine shaft in Banli village at about 2 p.m. Monday. A total of 107 workers were below ground at that time.

Emergency workers managed to rescue 98 miners from the pit in the past two days and recovered the bodies of nine others.

The colliery, a subsidiary of the state-owned Chongqing Energy Investment Group, registered a production capacity of 110,000 tonnes in 2007.

The police and mine safety supervision administration officials are investigating the cause of the tragedy.