Death toll rises to 28 in north China flooded mine, 10 still missing

XIANGNING, Shanxi, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in the flooded Wangjialing coal mine in north China's Shanxi Province rose to 28 after one more body was recovered Saturday afternoon.

Rescuers are searching for the 10 miners who remained missing, the rescue headquarters said.

About 280,000 cubic meters of water had been pumped out by Saturday, more than two times of the planned volume, said the spokesman Liu Dezheng at a press conference.

The water in section two had been all drained up and the search work there had been finished, Liu said.

More than 60,000 meters of water had been pumped out in section one, nearly four times than planned, but the water level fell much slower than expected, Liu said.

Toxic gas also brought great difficulties to rescue work, he said.

A total of 261 miners were working below ground when the mine was flooded on March 28, and 108 miners escaped unharmed while 153 were trapped underground.

On Monday, 115 miners were brought out of the mine alive after being trapped for more than a week. They are receiving medical care in five hospitals in Hejin and Taiyuan Cities.