ZHENGZHOU, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Two more miners were pulled out of a flooded coal mine in central China's Henan Province on Monday, bringing the total number rescued to eight, emergency crews said.

    Sixteen miners remain trapped in the Renhe Coal Mine in Changzhuang Township in the city of Yuzhou.

    The pit was flooded at 5:45 am on Sunday, when 62 miners were doing maintenance work. Thirty-eight people managed to escape and six were rescued on Sunday.

    On Monday, two survivors were pulled out of the pit at 0:15 am and 5:20 am. Rescuers said the miners were being treated at a local hospital.

    About 300 cubic meters of water filled the mine when workers were digging in a waste area, rescuers said.

    Underground gas and cave-ins slowed the drainage process making it hard for rescuers to reach the remaining 16 miners.

    A spokesman with the emergency rescue headquarters said the gas density in the shaft was over 10 percent. A fan was used to provide ventilation for the trapped miners.

    More than 60 rescuers, all wearing gas masks, are working at the site to pump out water and clear away silt.

    The Renhe Coal Mine was formerly a private business known as Fushun Coal Mine. It had an annual capacity of 150,000 tons. In 2005, the business was incorporated into the stated-owned Hebi Coal Industry (Group) Co. Ltd. based in Henan's Hebi City.