Rescuers found on Wednesday the body of one miner who was trapped in a flooded coal mine in north China's Shanxi Province for more than 20 days, but the whereabouts of 55 others are still unknown.

A disastrous flooding occurred on May 18 in the Xinjing Coal mine in the county of Zuoyun.

A total of 266 workers were working under the shaft when the accident took place, and only 210 managed to escape.

The rescue operation encountered great difficulties because the owner of the mine destroyed all the design drawings and others documents of the mine.

As of 6:00 PM Wednesday, the rescuers have pumped out 346,113 cubic meters of water. The pumping is going on, but it is widely believed that there is little chance for the trapped miners to survive.

(Xinhua News Agnecy June 15, 2006)