Eleven people, who are held responsible for the colliery flooding accident which trapped at least 123 miners in southern Guangdong Province, have been seized by local police, according to the headquarters in charge of rescue work on Wednesday.

The 11 people include the owner, manager, board chairman and chief technician of the Daxing Coal Mine, where the accident took place. All of them ran away after the accident.

Also on Wednesday, two officials were given disciplinary warnings as they did not perform their duty during the rescue work.

Shi Quan, who is on duty at a shaft of the Daxing Coal Mine, and Zeng Xianji, an official with the Xingning City Coal Industry Bureau, were accused of not reporting timely and accurately the water level in the flooded shaft.

The headquarters in charge of the rescue work urged all rescuers to fulfill their duties and any one who neglect their duties will be removed from their posts immediately.

Two mayors, who are responsible for the colliery flooding accident, have been suspended from duties, local government announced Tuesday.

He Zhengba, mayor of Meizhou, and Zeng Xianghai, mayor of Xingning, were blamed for being incompetent for supervising the coal mine production in the area under their jurisdiction, according to the provincial government.

The flooding accident occurred at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in the Daxing Coal Mine of Ningxing City which is under the administration of Meizhou City. An estimated 15 million to 20 million cubic meters of water gushed into the shaft. Only four miners escaped from the site.

By Wednesday morning, rescuers recovered the body of one of the trapped miners. The police is trying identify the victim via a NDA test.

Source: Xinhua