Seven people were trapped underground in a coal mine flooding accident Tuesday night in Benxi Autonomous County of Manchu Nationality in northeast China's Liaoning Province, sources with the provincial coal industry administration confirmed Thursday.

At around 8:00 PM Tuesday, a flooding accident occurred at Cuijingzhu Coal Mine in the county, affecting the adjacent Gaosihai Coal Mine and trapping seven workers underground.

Rescue work is underway, the sources said.

The two collieries, each with an annual production capacity of 10,000 tons, should have been shut down according to law. They had been closed earlier this month, but resumed production illegally.

The cause of the accident is being investigated.

(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2007)