Indian coal miners trapped

More than 30 miners have been trapped in eastern India after water flooded a coal mine.

Officials from the state-owned Bharat Coking Coal Ltd - which owns the coal mine - says 51 miners were working in the underground shaft when it caved in.

Rescuers managed to get to some of the trapped miners.

"Thirty-eight are still trapped," police official, DP Sinha, was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.

The mine is located near the town of Dhanbad, in the newly created state of Jharkhand.

The region has the largest coal deposits in India but has witnessed several mining accidents.

In 1995 more than 70 miners died in a mining accident following heavy rains.

The worst disaster took place in the 1975, when nearly 400 miners were killed in a mine collapse.