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XINTAI - Relatives of Chinese coalminers trapped in flooded shafts clashed with managers yesterday, desperate for information, but hopes for the 181 men faded after another day of efforts to pump the mines dry.
The disaster in the eastern coastal province of Shandong is the latest to strike China's coalmines, which - with more than 2000 people killed in the first seven months of this year alone - are the world's deadliest.
The miners have been trapped since Friday when a burst river dyke sent water rushing into two shafts. Rescuers hold out little hope of survival for the men who could not outpace the torrent - 172 in a main shaft and nine in one nearby.
They pressed on with efforts to pump water out of the mines yesterday, however, while officials revealed that they had known about the threat of flooding in the area.
Five men demanding word about trapped relatives stormed offices of the Huayuan Mining Co, which they said had not been telling families what was happening.
In the United States, the families of six Utah miners trapped underground two weeks ago have been told they are probably dead and may never be found.
- Reuters
