Rescuers were searching for a missing worker after they recovered four bodies in a flooded railway tunnel in central China's Hubei Province on Saturday afternoon.

The flooding occurred at around 5:10 p.m. on a rainy Friday afternoon in the Maluqing rail tunnel of the Yichang-Wanzhou Railway in Enshi Tujia, Miao Autonomous Prefecture.

More than 100,000 cubic meters of water poured into the 7,879-meter tunnel when the five workers were repairing equipment near its entrance.

On Friday, the rainfall in the area reached more than 60 millimeters, according to local authorities.

Investigation into the cause of the accident was underway.

The tunnel is considered one of the most dangerous passages, with five floods since 2003, along the under-construction railway. It links Yichang City in Hubei Province with Wanzhou, Chongqing Municipality.

The 377-kilometer railway is set to begin operation late next year.

(Xinhua News Agency April 13, 2008)