国内英语新闻:Eight trapped miners saved from flooded pit; one still missing

XIANGNING, Shanxi, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Eight miners trapped for 35 hours in a flooded colliery in north China's Shanxi Province were saved early Friday, rescuers said. One miner is still missing.

The eight survivors were taken to hospital for treatment. They are in stable conditions, said Li Youcai, deputy chief of Shengping Coal Mine Workers' Hospital in Taitou Town.

They are expected to recover and be discharged from hospital in one week, Li said.

The first four survivors were rescued and sent to hospital at around 2:30 a.m.; the other four miners were helped out of the pit at around 4:10 a.m., rescuers said

The eight survivors were known to be alive and had been in close contact with the rescuers via phone after the Shengping Coal Mine in Jixian County where they worked was flooded with torrential rain water Wednesday.

The accident happened at around 5 p.m. when 23 miners were performing repair work underground. Fourteen miners managed to escape.

Rescuers were still trying to find out the whereabouts of the last missing miner, who lost contact with the others after the flood.

The Shengping Coal Mine, owned by the Shanxi Coal Transportation and Sales Group Co., Ltd., has an annual output of 900,000 tonnes.