Two bank officials in north China's Shanxi Province were detained by local police as they were suspected to be involved in a coal mine flooding accident that trapped 57 miners, rescue headquarters said Friday.

 

Su Rijun, director of a business office of the Zuoyun Branch of the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), and Bai Xiaozhong, business office director of the Youyu Branch of ABC, had been found to have correlated responsibility for the flooding accident, said Bai Yulong, spokesman of the headquarters.

 

Also on Friday, police arrested Zhang Shengsheng in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Zhang was in charge of mining and work safety at the Xinjing mine in Zuoyun County, in north China's Shanxi Province, when it was flooded at 8.30 p.m. on May 18, leaving 57 miners still trapped.

 

So far, 15 people have been detained in the accident, including mine owner Li Fuyuan, labor contractor Lan Renhuo, mine's executive head Wang Sheng and some officials of Zhangjiachang Township.

 

Rescue workers are pumping water from the flooded mine, but there is still no word about the trapped miners.

 

(Xinhua News Agency May 27, 2006)