Rescuers search for 5 trapped in flooded graphite mine in central China

Rescuers are continuing to search for five people trapped underground in a flooded graphite mine in central China's Hunan Province, according to provincial work safety authorities.

The mine flooded at around 5:00 a.m. Saturday as five miners repaired the shaft laneway at the Xinyuan Graphite Mine in Heye Town, Guiyang County.

Local governments in the county and Chenzhou City, which administers Guiyang County, are overseeing the rescue.

Ouyang Zhaoxi, deputy head of the publicity department in Guiyang County, told Xinhua Monday the rescuers are having difficulty reaching the trapped miners as the flooded area is very deep underground.

Two pumps are pumping water out of the mine.

Source: Xinhua