2010-03-30 21:01

ZHENGZHOU - Two miners were found alive early Tuesday after being trapped for eight days in a flooded iron ore mine in central China's Henan Province, local authorities said.

They were pulled out alive at 9:20 a.m. after being trapped underground for 201 hours and were taken to Biyang County People's Hospital at Biyang County, Zhumadian City, said rescuers on the scene.

Eleven miners were trapped after a flood at 12:40 a.m. on March 22 in three pits run by Shunda Mining Co., Ltd. which was engaged in iron and non-ferrous metals mining, it said.

Three bodies had been recovered by Friday afternoon, and six miners remained unaccounted for, said a statement from the Biyang County government.

Rescuers were still searching for the missing miners, it said.

Wang Xinke, deputy county government chief in charge of work safety, was removed from his post shortly after the flooding.

A total of 153 miners are still trapped underground in a coal mine that flooded in north China's Shanxi Province Sunday.