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Rescue workers who have worked for two weeks in a flooded mine shaft in Anyang City, central China's Henan Province, had discovered the bodies of nine trapped miners by 8:00 pm (Beijing Time) Monday, but another six were still missing.
Experts estimated there was little hope of the other six miners surviving.
A total of 42 miners were working down the shaft when it was flooded on May 24, but 27 escaped, leaving 15 at the end of the shaft trapped, said officials.
More than 200 rescue workers have been organized to recover the trapped miners.
The rescue efforts were at one stage halted by renewed flooding and increased gas density days after the calamity.
Officials in charge of the rescue work said they would try their utmost to recover the rest of the trapped miners, but the rescuers' safety must be ensured first.
To date, 961 meters of the flooded shaft have been cleared and 1,800 tons of silted coal removed.
The rescue work is now continuing with difficulty.
Situated in Long'an District of Anyang City, the Anli Coal Mine, where the disaster occurred, has produced 60,000 tons of coal a year since 1997.
(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2003)
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