10 Confirmed Dead in Flooded Manganese Mines in Central China

Ten people have been confirmed dead after two manganese mines in central China's Hunan Province were flooded two weeks ago, local authorities said Monday.

Water gushed into the two mine pits run by Leixin Mining Development Co. and Wenhua Manganese Co. in Huayuan County of Xiangxi Tujia-Miao Autonomous Prefecture at about 6:10 p.m. on July 20, trapping a total of 13 miners underground.

Rescuers pulled three miners alive out of the mines on July 29 and sent them to hospital. Currently, they are in stable condition, a spokesman with the Hunan Provincial Work Safety Administration said Monday.

Rescuers had earlier retrieved seven bodies, and they found the last three bodies on Sunday morning, the spokesman said.

Local authorities are further investigating the cause of the accident, he added.

(Xinhua News Agency August 3, 2010)