China4 people died and 14 others were trapped after a coal mine in Sichuan province was flooded yesterday afternoon, while 347 people were working.

By this morning, 329 people had come out of an underground coal pit in Yibin City, Sichuan Province, China. Eleven rescue groups of about 200 people are continuing to work to free those trapped.

China Central Television reported the flood had damaged communication systems at several points inside the mine, but did not specify the cause of the deaths. Li Wenzhong, deputy head of the city's emergency management department, said the water level was still rising, but the pace was slower thanks to the efforts of rescue forces.

The coal mine is owned by Shanmushu Company, a unit of the Sichuan Furong Group, and has been fined several times for violating safety standards. Two senior executives in 2013 were sentenced to five years in prison after seven people died in a gas explosion.

Despite pledging to improve safety, four managers at the mine were fired after an inspection in April found that the level of toxic gas in the field was high enough to cause another explosion.

Mine accidents are quite common in China due to loose safety regulations. Last month, a gas explosion at a coal mine in Shanxi Province left 15 people dead and 9 injured. In December 2018, a tunnel collapse in southwestern Chongqing city also killed seven miners.