Rescuers had retrieved two bodies as of Sunday afternoon after a coal mine in central China's Hunan Province was flooded on Wednesday, but three others remained missing.

The Beichong No.2 coal mine in Yongxing County of Chenzhou City was flooded at about 11 PM Wednesday as some 300 cubic meters of water poured into the pit, where nine people were working.

Four had escaped and rescuers were still trying to save the remaining three workers.

The mining license of the colliery, with an annual production capacity of 30,000 tons of coal, expired at the end of 2006.

(Xinhua News Agency July 23, 2007)