The accident occurred on Monday at a mine owned by the state-run Singareni Collieries Company at Godavarikhani, when water rushed in from a seam near the floor of the mine and flooded the shaft. The miners were working on a higher seam, about 500 feet underground, The Hindustan Times reported.

"There is absolutely no chance that they could have survived," Singareni Collieries executive director TRK Rao told AFP.

Officials said there were more than 54 people working in the mine when water started gushing in from a breach in the walls around halfway up the 3km-deep mine.

"Thirty-seven miners clawed their way out to safety by moving ahead of the surging waters but the others were trapped at the bottom," Rao told AFP.

Officials said they were unsure what caused the flooding and had initiated an inquiry, AFP reported.