Thirteen people were still trapped after a coal mine flooding in north China's Shanxi Province on Saturday night, the local work safety authority said Sunday.

The accident happened at 11:40 p.m. Saturday at the Wangzhuang Coal Mining Co., Ltd. in Changzhi City, said an official with the provincial work safety bureau.

There were 82 miners working at the major air-return way at that time and 69 managed to escape as of 2:30 a.m. Sunday.

The rescue headquarters estimated that the water, taking up 10,000 cubic meters, came from a nearby mined-out area.

More than 200 people took part in the rescue operation with eight pumps.

The mine, under Shanxi Coal Transportation and Sales Group Co., Ltd., is state-owned and fully registered with an annual capacity of 1.2 million tonnes.

(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2008)