16 trapped in flooded Chinese mine

Sixteen miners are trapped underground after a coal mine flooded in northeast China, state media reports.

Six out of 22 miners managed to escape when the mine operated by the Furuixiang Coal Company in Qitaihe city flooded at 11.40pm on Saturday (local time).

Rescuers installed water pumps in the effort to save the missing miners, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Some 1146 people have died in 650 mining accidents in China this year, according to government figures released in October.

-AAP