Efforts resume to save 29 trapped Chinese miners

BEIJING, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Rescue efforts resumed today to save 29 miners trapped for more than four days in a flooded iron ore pit in Inner Mongolia.

The official Xinhua news agency said rescuers were drilling a 30-cm (15-inch) diameter hole to get food and oxygen to the men, who officials believe still have a chance of surviving.

Eleven miners escaped when the mine flooded on Wednesday.

Six were rescued the next day and are recovering in hospital.

Rescue operations had to be suspended yesterday after a sudden rise in the water level in the flooded mine shaft.

Separately, in the northeastern province of Liaoning, rescuers had abandoned efforts to save seven miners trapped in two neighbouring coal mines that flooded 11 days ago, Xinhua said.

The owners of the two pits had agreed to pay compensation of at least 25,000 dollars to the relatives of the victims, Xinhua quoted a local government official as saying.

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

REUTERS DKA VC1558