By yesterday 2,700 cubic meters of water had been pumped out of the mine and officials hoped the ventilation system in the mine could resume operation and the gas content would be reduced to a safer level, Xinhua reported.
The miners have been trapped since Sunday morning in the Xishan mine. Fourteen workers were underground at the time of inundation, but seven managed to escape.
In a separate incident on Tuesday, a coal dust explosion at the Luotuoshan colliery killed six workers and left one seriously injured.
An inspection into the explosion discovered violations of safety regulations where the miners were in the mine performing repair work when one miner set off explosive without having carried out a safety check of gas and coal dust in the working platform as required, Xinhua said.
