It will take another two days for the major water leaks threatening the Fengguang Coalmine in Shulan City, northeast China's Jilin Province, to be blocked up, Yuan Yuqing, deputy head of the provincial coal industry administration, said on Sunday.

The coalmine flooded at around 4:00 PM on Friday while 152 miners were working in the No.5 shaft. Only 136 miners escaped. 16 others remain trapped underground.

The local coalmine bureau said water from the nearby Lianhua Pond flooded into the shaft through several disused smaller shafts. Heavy rainfall in recent months also contributed to the flooding, the bureau added. There are now three major leaks seeping from the pond, which covers a total area of 120,000 square meters, Yin Yuke with the provincial coal industry administration, said.

Yuan Yuqing said over 120 rescuers have been recruited to pack more than 12,000 sandbags that have been used to plug the leaks. 15,000 cubic meters of earth was packed in two days, Yuan said, but he estimates that another 35,000 cubic meters of earth is needed to fully plug the leaks.

(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2005)