No signs of life was detected in a flooded coal mine where 31 miners have been trapped since March 1 in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Rescuers began looking for signs of life since Saturday but they didn't find any as of 11:00 AM Sunday, said Wu Qingfeng, a spokesman with the emergency rescue headquarters at Luotuoshan Coal Mine in Wuhai, a city about 600 kilometers from the regional capital, Hohhot.

On Saturday the rescuers managed to drill a hole to reach a mining shaft 202 meters deep, where 12 workers are believed to be trapped.

Underground water flooded a pit of Luotuoshan Coal Mine in Wuhai City on March 1 when 77 miners were working.

One miner was confirmed dead, 45 were rescued while 31 more were still trapped underground.

The trapped miners are from Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi and Henan, according to a full name list published Saturday.

Luotuoshan Coal Mine, which is still under construction, is owned by Wuhai Energy Co. Ltd. under Shenhua Group Corp. Ltd., the country's largest coal producer.

Construction of the mine started in 2006. It is designed to produce 1.5 million tonnes of coal a year.

Last year, Inner Mongolia replaced the northern Shanxi Province to become China's leading coal base with 637 million tonnes of output.

(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2010)