1 dead, 17 still missing in NE China's flooded mine
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A miner's body was recovered Thursday, while rescue efforts were still under way to reach 17 others missing in a flooded coal mine in northeast China.
Rescue teams found the body when clearing debris underground in the shaft, the rescue headquarters said.
About 200 rescuers are still working around the clock to pump water and clear the debris in the shaft.
Rescue officials Wednesday said the chances of survival for the trapped miners were slim as rescue operations had been hampered with floodwater continuing to seep into the mine.
Eighteen miners were trapped in the early morning of Tuesday when floodwater from a overflowing river gushed into a coal pit of Hongyuan Coal Mine in Tonghua City, Jilin Province.
The miners were working underground to pull out machinery soaked after days of torrential rain when the flooding occurred.
The township-owned mine has an annual production capacity of 60,000 tonnes. It is near the lower reaches of Daluoquangou River, which was swollen after 116.2 millimeters of rainfall Monday.
Jilin has been battered by heavy rain and floods this summer, leaving at least 85 people dead and 66 more missing, and causing direct economic losses of 46 billion yuan (6.8 billion U.S. dollars).
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