Battle to rescue 21 miners from flood

Rescuers were yesterday attempting to reach 21 coal miners trapped by an underground flood in northwest China, a state news agency has reported.

The mine in Hutubi County in the Xinjiang region flooded at 6.10pm on Saturday, the Xinhua News Agency said. It added that eight people had been rescued.

China’s coal mines are among the world’s deadliest, regularly suffering explosions and gas leaks despite repeated safety crackdowns.