Twenty-eight miners were trapped in a colliery flood in southwest China's Sichuan Province on Sunday, the local safety watchdog said.

The accident happened at 11 a.m. in Weiyuan County of Neijiang City.

Altogether 41 miners were working underground when a pit of Batian Coal Mine was flooded. Thirteen of them escaped, said Lin Shucheng, chief of the provincial work safety bureau.

He said rescuers had begun pumping flood water from the pit early in the afternoon. "We have sent four trucks of pumping equipment from Chengdu to help the rescue work."

He said medical workers were standing by to provide first-aid.

Lin said the Batian Coal Mine had undergone a renovation to increase its annual output to 60,000 tonnes from the designed 50,000 tonnes. "But all its operation was legal. Its business license and production permits are valid."

A similar flooding trapped three workers who were prospecting for an iron mine in the southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Saturday night. Rescue work continued Sunday.

(Xinhua News Agency November 21, 2010)