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Twenty-two coal miners were trapped for a fifth day on Sunday in a flooded pit in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, with three survivors hospitalized in stable condition and one miner pronounced dead, local officials said.

Rescuers found the four workers at mining platform No 9 about 270 meters underground. Three were carried out alive on Saturday night. The fourth was evacuated on Sunday morning, but he had drowned.

CCTV earlier reported five people were trapped at the No 9 platform and 20 others were trapped at the No 10 platform further below.

"There is still hope for other survivors, but that depends on the rescue progress," Li Xingyuan, spokesman for the rescue operation, told China Daily.

Workers mistakenly drilled into a neighboring deserted mine on Tuesday, causing a flood in the pit in Boli county, Qitaihe city, when 45 miners were underground. Nineteen managed to escape at that time.

According to the latest figures from the rescue headquarters, 13 pumps had removed 80,160 cubic meters of water as of noon Sunday. Early in the rescue operation, the headquarters said about 40,000 cu m of water had gushed into the pit.

Li said the unexpectedly large volume of water underground reflected a faulty pit map provided by the mine operator, who did not mark some of the mining sites on the map.

"We cannot estimate when we can pump out enough water to give a realistic chance of a rescue. The situation is changing constantly."

Li, who is also deputy director of Boli county's coal mine safety supervision bureau, added water is being discharged at 990 cu m per hour, lowering the water level about 45 cm every hour.

Because of the complicated pit structure, the water level fell only 10 cm to 14 cm every hour in the early phase of the rescue.

Questions:

1. How many miners were trapped?

2. In what province is the pit?

3. How many pumps were used to remove 80,160 cubic meters of water?

Answers:

1. 22.

2. Heilongjiang.

3. 13.

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.