About 2,000 Chinese People's Liberation Army troops, armed police and miners have closed up a 30-meter section of the breached levee of the Wenhe River by midday Saturday.
The closure of the breach is crucial to the rescue efforts and it will stop water from continuing to flow into the mine, according to rescuers.
Floodwater at the breach site has risen to two meters high, inundating trees near the bank.
Zhang Yulin, a worker with a nearby coal mine, said he was called up to close the breached levee around 3 a.m. Saturday with others.
Meanwhile, more than 50 workers were busy installing pipes to pump water from the flooded shaft.
The rescue headquarters has ordered all coal mines near the banks of the Wenhe River to stop production and evacuate all workers.
Residents in the low-lying areas downstream were also told to be ready to evacuate to prevent casualties.
In a separate accident in Xintai, nine people were trapped in the Minggong coal mine after it flooded Friday because of the rainstorms.
Ninety-five people were working underground when the accident happened. Eighty-six have been lifted alive. Rescue work is underway.
Li Yizhong, director of the State Administration of Work Safety and Zhao Tiechui, director of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, have rushed to the site to oversee rescue efforts.
The work safety watchdog issued on Saturday an emergency notice urging coal mines to draw lessons from the Huayuan mine accident and immediately take preventive measures against rainstorm-triggered floods.
Huayuan Mining Co. Ltd is a licensed enterprise with an annual capacity of 750,000 tons.
(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2007)
