Six rescued from flooded China mine

BEIJING, Jan 18 (Reuters) Six of 35 Chinese miners trapped in a flooded iron ore pit have been found alive, but the fate of their colleagues was unknown, Xinhua news agency said today.

The miners became trapped in three vertical shafts at the mine near Baotou in the northern region of Inner Mongolia on Wednesday.

Xinhua originally put their number at 36.

''The six miners, whose condition is unknown, were rushed to the nearest hospital,'' Xinhua said, citing sources from the rescue operation headquarters.

China has called on mining and manufacturing companies to dramatically raise spending on safety measures to cut industrial accidents that kill more than 16,000 people annually.

Chinese coal mines are the world's deadliest, with 4,746 miners killed in thousands of blasts, floods and other accidents last year.

Reuters SP GC1003