Two bodies pulled from flooded China mine

LEIYANG, China, July 9 (UPI) -- The bodies of two miners were removed from a flooded underground coal mine in China's Hunan province Monday and six others remained trapped, officials said.

Rescuers said they don't know the condition of the trapped miners, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

The flooding at Qielichong colliery in Leiyang occurred Wednesday while 40 miners were working underground. Twenty-four miners escaped and 16 were trapped. Eight of the 16 trapped miners were rescued.

The accident wasn't reported until Thursday morning, delaying the start of the rescue operation, local officials said.

Xinhua said the mine owner was in police custody.