国内英语新闻:Water level in flooded coal mine drops as rescue operation enters third day

XIANGNING, Shanxi, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The water level dropped Tuesday in a flooded coal mine in north China's Shanxi Province, where 153 people were trapped, as rescue efforts entered the third day.

But there was still no communication with the trapped although almost 1,000 rescuers have been racing the clock to pump out water and trying to reach them.

By 6 p.m. Tuesday, the water level in the shaft had dropped by 15 cm, and a total of 15,000 cubic meters of water had been pumped out of the pit, the rescue headquarters said late Tuesday.

Rescuers send drainage pipes down to the shaft at the site of the flooding accident of Wangjialing Coal Mine, sitting astride Xiangning County of Linfen City and Hejin City of Yuncheng City, north China's Shanxi Province, on March 30, 2010.

Currently, six pumps are being used to pump up to 645 cubic meters of water per hour.

Altogether 261 workers were in the pit of Wangjialing Coal Mine, which was under construction, when underground water gushed in at about 1:40 p.m. Sunday. Although 108 were lifted safely to the ground, 153 others were trapped in the shaft.

The mine, which straddles Xiangning County, of Linfen City, and Hejin City, of Yuncheng City, covers about 180 square kilometers.

The mining zone was estimated to have more than 2.3 billion tonnes of coal reserves, including 1.04 billion tonnes of proven reserves, according to the company's official website.

The mine, affiliated with the state-owned Huajin Coking Coal Co. Ltd., is a major project approved by the provincial government. It is expected to produce 6 million tonnes of coal annually once in operation.