Beijing ? Water from a rain-swollen river poured into a coal mine in eastern China, leaving 172 miners trapped and feared dead, government officials and a state news agency reported today.

A dike on the Wen river in Shandong province broke Friday afternoon, sending water flooding into the mine in the city of Xintai, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Work areas were submerged and the miners “had only slim chances of survival,” Xinhua said, citing Wang Ziqi, director of Shandong’s coal mine safety agency. There was no indication whether miners were alive.