Two workers found dead after being trapped for five days in flooded tunnel

Two of 14 workers who had been trapped in a flooded highway tunnel for five days in southern Chinese city of Zhuhai were found dead, the city government said on Monday.

On Thursday, water leaked into the Shijingshan tunnel, which is being built under a reservoir, trapping the workers more than a kilometer from the entrance.

On Monday afternoon, rescuers found the two dead workers at about 1,060 meters and 1,070 meters from the tunnel's entrance, the Zhuhai government said.

As of 9am on Monday, rescuers were 732.9 meters into the tunnel, but were still 427.1 meters from where the workers were trapped, Xinhua news agency said. The vast tunnel, while still under water, had seen its overall water level drop by a total of 15.5 meters by then, Xinhua said.

Divers have been conducting searches for a total of 16 hours.

Rescuers will spare no effort to search and rescue the remaining trapped workers, and more than 2,400 rescuers and over 200 rescue vehicles have been dispatched to the scene, the on-site rescue headquarters said.

The accident was the second in the tunnel since March, when a collapsed wall killed two workers.