Rescuers on Saturday discovered one more body of the nine miners who went missing following last Friday's coal mine flooding in Chengcheng County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

So far, the death toll from the accident has risen to two after the first body was found on Friday.

Search for the other seven missing miners is continuing, but hopes for their survival fade, said sources from the headquarters in charge of the rescue operation.

A total of 14 miners were working underground when Yaotou Coal Mine in Chengcheng County, Weinan City, was flooded at 11:40 AM on October 26. Five of them narrowly escaped.

The trapped miners included eight Shaanxi locals and one from Gansu, a neighbouring province.

Yaotou Coal Mine is a registered private mine with an annual output of 60,000 tons.

(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2007)