TAIYUAN, July 4 -- Rescuers have dug a passage to reach eight miners trapped underground in north China's Shanxi Province after a coal mine flooded on Saturday night.

The 117-meter-deep tunnel, completed at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, will transport food to the miners, who have been reached by phone, according to the rescue headquarters.

Rescuers are still searching for four others who remain missing.

The shaft was flooded with an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 cubic meters of water, and 5,000 cubic meters were pumped out by noon on Monday.

The flooding occurred at 10:53 p.m. Saturday in Qinshui County while 94 people were working in the shaft, 82 of whom have been evacuated.