Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have directed southern China's Guangdong provincial government to make all out efforts to rescue 102 miners who remain trapped in a flooded coal mine.
Shortly after the accident occurred on Sunday, Hu and Wen instructed the local government and departments concerned to 'take substantial steps and spare no efforts' to save the trapped miners, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.
Rescue operations in the mine were in full swing and emergency workers were using water pumps to reach the miners, who were trapped underground since Sunday, the provincial government said.
The accident occurred on Sunday afternoon at the privately owned Daxing Colliery in Wanghuai Town of Meizhou City in Guangdong province, Xinhua said, citing a local official.
Earlier, authorities had put the number of the trapped miners at 103, but the official said it was a miscount and revised the figure to 102. He said an investigation was underway to ascertain the cause of the accident.
The local government has ordered the coal mines in the city to suspend operations for safety examination.
China, the world's largest coal producer, has witnessed a series of major coal mine accidents this year as the nation faced an acute power shortage. Officials often blame the growing number of accidents to lax safety standards.
