Six miners were trapped in a colliery flood on Tuesday in east China's Jiangxi Province, the local government confirmed on Wednesday.

The accident occurred at 6:40 PM at Ping'an Colliery, which is run by Cihua Township in Yuanzhou District in the city of Yichun, a spokesman with the Yuanzhou district government said.

Rescue work started immediately after the accident, and rescuers are still pumping water out of the pit Wednesday morning.

The provincial coal mine safety supervision bureau has sent officials to oversee the rescue operation.

(Xinhua News Agency March 15, 2006)