BEIJING - EIGHTEEN people remained trapped in a flooded coal mine in central China after rescuers saved six workers, authorities said on Sunday.

The State Administration of Coal Mine Safety said the flood swamped the mine in Yuzhou city in Henan province early on Sunday morning.

A duty officer who answered the phone at the agency said six miners were rescued and 18 were still trapped underground.

The officer, who refused to give his name because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said the cause of the flood was unclear and was still being investigated.

The official Xinhua News Agency said 62 miners were doing maintenance work in the shaft and 38 managed to escape when the flood occurred.

Xinhua said the mine is owned by the Hebi Coal Industry (Group) Co. Ltd., based in Henan's Hebi city.

Phone calls to the mine owner and the Yuzhou city coal mine safety bureau rang unanswered Sunday.

China's mines are the world's deadliest, with explosions, cave-ins and floods killing nearly 3,800 people last year. -- AP