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XIANGNING, China: The death toll from a flooding in a Chinese coal mine rose to 12 on Thursday, officials announced, as difficult conditions continued to hamper rescue efforts.
Water levels in the two areas where the remaining 26 workers have been trapped remain quite high, making it hard to implement a large-scale rescue operation, said rescue headquarters spokesman Liu Dezheng.
Rescue workers are racing around the clock to pump out water, he said, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
Cramped conditions and the risk of a gas explosion in the Wangjialing mine in the northern Chinese province of Shanxi have also complicated efforts to find the missing workers, with some emergency personnel falling ill.
So far, 115 workers have been pulled to safety after more than a week trapped in the mine, in what officials have described as a "miracle" for an industry plagued by deadly accidents and a poor safety record.
The rescue on Monday of more than 100 workers - some of whom had survived on tree bark, sawdust, paper and even coal - buoyed hopes of finding more people alive.
Safety standards are widely flouted in China's mines in the rush to meet surging coal demand - source of about 70 per cent of the country's energy.
In a commentary, the state-run English-language Global Times on Wednesday said if the same effort in rescue work had been applied to safety practices, "many similar accidents might well have been avoided in the first place".
More than 2,600 miners were killed last year, according to government figures, although labour activists say the actual numbers are likely far higher.
China's government in recent years touted a safety drive that it says has closed thousands of unsafe mines, but accidents have continued unabated.
- AFP/yb
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