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BAOTOU, Inner Mongolia, Jan. 18  -- Rescuers on Thursday freed six of the 35 miners trapped in a flooded iron ore mine near Baotou, in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Rescuers said they had made contact with five more miners trapped underground.

The six rescued miners were rushed to the nearest hospital, said sources at rescue headquarters.

"They appear to be ok: their clothes are all dry because they had managed to take refuge on an unsubmerged platform in one of the vertical shafts," said the rescuers.

The miners were found after the rescuers dug a sloping tunnel to reach the vertical shaft, said the rescuers,

"We are told that the other five miners are squatting above a head frame structure, and we're trying our best to reach them," said the rescuers.

The flood occurred shortly after 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday at Haolaigou Iron Ore Mine in Donghe District, near the city of Baotou, when 46 miners were changing shifts. Only 11 miners escaped, according to rescue headquarters.

Chaoyue Mining is a private company set up in 2001. Its mines have a production capacity of 100,000 tons of iron ore a year.

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