China Daily quoted China safety watchdog said that a mine owner failed to inform local authorities about a flood on Tuesday that trapped 13 miners in Northeast China Heilongjiang province.

The State Administration of Work Safety said the local government did not know about the accident until it was tipped off by the public on Wednesday afternoon.

Twenty four miners were working underground at the Jindi coal mine in Jixi city, Heilongjiang province when the accident occurred with 11 of them managing to escape.

Authorities said the owner of the mine, surnamed Mr Xiong initially denied having workers trapped at the flooded mine and finally revealed the truth after four hours of police interrogation. He has already been in police custody.

As of Thursday, 480 rescuers have been dispatched to the rescue scene, including rescue forces from neighboring coal mines.

(Sourced from China Daily)