The flooding at the Xinjing Coal Mine, in Shanxi province's Zuoyun county, happened Thursday night while 145 miners were at work, the Xinhua news agency reported, quoting rescuers.

A total of 101 miners managed to escape, leaving the other 44 trapped, but management of the mine initially said only five were missing, according to the agency.

"In this sense, the actual situation of the accident was covered up," said Gong Anku, head of the Shanxi Provincial Bureau of Work Safety.

Xinhua said managerial staff tried to ship out relatives of the trapped miners in rented taxis, hoping to transport them to the nearby region of Inner Mongolia, to prevent them from talking to the press or rioting.

Police have detained nine managers, while the owner of the mine has gone into hiding, according to the agency.

The mine has an annual capacity of 90,000 tonnes and is legal, Xinhua said, adding the cause of the flooding was under investigation.

China's coal mines are regarded as the most dangerous in the world, with 5,986 workers dying in the industry last year, according to official figures.

Another 2,235 people were killed in ore mining accidents, government statistics show.

Labor rights groups, such as the Hong Kong-based China Labour Bulletin, say the real number of mining deaths could be as high as 20,000 each year.

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