All the four workers trapped in a flooded coal mine in north China's Shanxi Province were rescued early on Saturday, rescuers said.

The accident occurred at 2:56 AM on Friday in Xiguo Xinxing Coal Mine in Puxian County, Linfen City when nine miners were working in the flooded shaft. Five of them managed to escape and the other four were rescued at 2:26 AM on Saturday.

Rescuers used pumps to drain the 2,800 cubic meters of water that had gushed into the shaft.

The state-owned mine is in a mountainous area more than 200 kilometers southwest of Taiyuan, the provincial capital. It is licensed and has a designed annual production capacity of 300,000 tonnes.

(Xinhua News Agency June 20, 2009)