Two miners have been confirmed dead and 18 more remained missing in two flooded coal mines in southwest China, local authorities said.
Rescuers found another body when clearing sludge inside the flooded shaft of a coal mine in Guiyang, the capital city of Guizhou Province, the rescue headquarters said in a statement. The first body was found late Tuesday night, Xinhua reported.
Ten miners remained trapped more than four days after the flooding as high density of gas once hampered the rescue efforts.
The accident occurred as miners did not work in accordance with approved designs, an investigation showed.
The mine, with an annual production capacity of 150,000 tonnes, has legal production licenses.
In another flooded coal mine at the border of Dushan County in Guizhou and Nandan County in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, eight workers have been trapped for more than 40 hours.
The rescue operation was complicated by the high density of gas and narrow shafts, said Luo Guoguang, a deputy head of Dushan County.
Police have arrested four owners of the illegally-operating mine, Luo said.