BEIJING--Twenty four people were trapped on Saturday in a flooded mine in northern China, state media reported.

Xinhua news agency, citing local government officials, said the incident occurred in Jixi city in Heilongjiang province at around 5 pm (1000 GMT).

The report gave no other details.

The government on Saturday announced seventeen people were killed and 68 injured in a blast at a mine in the north of the country.

The early morning explosion destroyed more than 10 dormitories at the Liugou coal mine near Linfen city in the northern province of Shanxi, the State Administration of Work Safety said on its website.
China's vast coal mining industry is notoriously accident-prone, plagued by lax regulation, corruption and inefficiency as mines rush to meet soaring demand.

A total of 2,631 miners were killed in China last year, according to official figures, but independent labor groups say the actual figure could be much higher as many accidents are covered up to avoid costly mine shutdowns.