PINGTANG, Guizhou - Twenty-three miners who are trapped in a flooded coal mine in Guizhou province are not expected to survive, according to local rescue headquarters.

The flood occurred at 9:30 am Saturday in the Niupeng Mine, located in the province's Pingtang county. Heavy rains and a breakdown in the mine's drainage system have been blamed for the accident.

The area where the miners are believed to be located has been completely submerged, with nowhere left underground for the miners to take shelter, said officials with the emergency rescue headquarters.

Cheng Mingliang, vice president of the Affiliated Hospital of Guiyang Medical College, met other medical experts at the mine on Friday to assess whether there was still a chance for the miners to make it out alive.

The emergency rescue headquarters said rescuers have drained 160,000 cubic meters of water from the mine as of 5:30 pm Friday, decreasing the level of the floodwaters by 36 meters.

Rescue worker Ru Zuosheng said that rescue operations at the mine have been more difficult than any he has participated in before.

Sun Guoqiang, commander-in-chief of the headquarters, said that the rescuers' main task at the moment is to pump water out of the mine at higher speeds in order to prevent it from flooding again.