The bodies of five trapped coal miners in a flooded mine have been discovered in Wuhai, a city in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

According to local sources, the leak occurred around 7:00 p.m. Tuesday when seven miners were working underground, but two managed to escape.

The coal mine, with a production capacity of 30,000 tons a year, was privately owned.

It is situated near five deserted small coal mines, which were full of water because of the heavy rain. The water burst through the wall of one of the deserted mines and flooded the working mine.

(Xinhua News Agency July 26, 2003)