One miner had been killed and seven trapped in a flooded coal pit in northeast China's Liaoning Province, according to the provincial coal mine security supervision bureau Friday.

The flooding occurred on Thursday afternoon in Ping'an Coal Mine in the coal-rich city of Fuxin when ten miners were working underground, sources with the bureau confirmed Friday.

Two miners had been rescued out of the pit by 8:00 AM Friday.

Rescue operation is still going on and the cause of the incident is being investigated.

Over the past two week, major coal mine gas blasts had killed at least 122 people in China. Investigations show that most of the mines have been ordered to halt production for safety checks, but the mine owners violated the orders and started illegal production.

Chinese coal mines suffer frequent explosions, flooding and cave-ins, claiming around 6,000 lives a year.

(Xinhua News Agency December 8, 2006)