Rescue workers transport a pump in to a flooded pit of Luotuoshan Coal Mine in Wuhai City, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, March 3, 2010. [Xinhua]

A drill digs holes into the Luotuoshan Coal Mine in Wuhai City, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, March 3, 2010. [Xinhua]

Rescuers are still draining a flooded coal mine in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Wednesday, hoping to rescue 31 trapped miners who have been in the pit for more than 50 hours.

Officials with the emergency rescue headquarters refused to speculate on the miners' survival chances.

Two pumps have been working at the site since Tuesday, draining about 435 cubic meters of flood water an hour, a spokesman with the emergency rescue headquarters said at a press briefing midday Wednesday.

By 11:00 AM Wednesday, 6,000 cubic meters of flood water had been pumped from the pit and the underground water level had stopped rising, said Wu Qingfeng.

He said two more powerful pumps, capable of pumping 1,000 cubic meters each, were being installed to speed up the drainage.

(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2010)