Hopes faded yesterday for 102 Chinese coal miners trapped by flood waters as state media reported an explosion at a second pit which killed 14 people. Flood waters were rising in the mineshaft in Xingning in the southern province of Guangdong which was inundated on Sunday. ?There are 15 million to 20 million cubic metres of water under the mine and the water level is still rising 50 cm (20 in) an hour,? the Xinhua news agency quoted a vice mayor of nearby Meizhou as saying.

?Chances of the trapped workers surviving are relatively small,? he said. China relies on coal for over two-thirds of its energy needs but accidents in the mining industry ? the world?s most dangerous ? claimed 2,700 lives in the first half of 2005 alone. What triggered the flooding was unknown, Xinhua said. The China News Service said adjoining mines had been ordered to suspend production and evacuate workers. Flooding at a coal mine in Xingning killed 16 workers on July 14, Xinhua said.

Further west, 14 miners were killed yesterday and two were missing in a gas explosion at a mine in Liupanshui, in southwest Guizhou province. Only 23 miners managed to escape, Xinhua said. Beijing recently announced the closure of a string of tiny private mines, often the worst violators of safety regulations. But high prices and the booming economy?s voracious appetite for power encourage some to reopen illegally and others to ignore regulations or push production beyond capacity. China?s coal consumption is expected to rise by around six percent this year, Xinhua quoted the China Coal Industry Association saying.