HARBIN -- Three officials, including a deputy county head, have been sacked over the cover up of a colliery flood that left 13 miners missing in Northeast China last week, local authorities said Tuesday.

Zhang Guangyun, deputy head of Jidong county, Heilongjiang province, and two local mining officials, were removed from their posts in connection to the October 11 flooding accident at the Jindi Coal Mine, said Cong Xiangrong, secretary of the Jixi municipal government, which has jurisdiction over Jidong.

The flooding occurred while 24 miners were working underground; 11 managed to escape. By Saturday, rescuers reported no signs of life of the remaining 13 miners trapped underground.