Rescuers fight to save trapped Chinese miners
Around 260 people were in the mine when water rushed in and 108 managed to escape
Rescuers are trying to reach more than 150 coal miners trapped after a pit flooded in China's northern Shanxi province, state media says.
Some 261 people were in the mine when water rushed in and 108 managed to escape, the Xinhua news agency reports.
China's mines are the most deadly in the world - thousands of workers are killed in them every year.
Most accidents are blamed on failures to follow safety rules, compromising ventilation or fire-control equipment.
Initial reports from the Wangjialing mine said more than 150 people were trapped in the pit but officials later revised that number down, only to revise it back up to 153.
President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao ordered local authorities to spare no effort to save the trapped, Xinhua said.
The mine covers 180 sq km (70 sq miles).
Most of those trapped in the shaft are migrant workers from Shanxi, Hebei, Hunan and Guizhou provinces, a rescuer said, quoted by Xinhua.
Luo Lin, director of the Safety Inspection Department, said the priority was to reach the trapped men.
"At the same time we need to avoid causing follow-on disasters or environmental damage," he told reporters as he visited the scene on Monday.
Earlier this month, rescue efforts for 31 miners trapped when a coal mine flooded in the Inner Mongolia region of China were halted after two weeks when no sign of life was found.
According to official figures, 2,631 coal miners died in 1,616 mine accidents in China in 2009, down 18% from the previous year.
