Beijing, Aug 30 (IANS) Nineteen miners who were trapped in a flooded coal mine in China for more than 160 hours were rescued Tuesday, officials said.

With their recovery, the total number of rescued miners was brought to 22. Three people were rescued Saturday and one died while crawling along a shaft towards rescuers, the Shanghai Daily reported.

The flooding began last Tuesday, when 45 miners were working inside the Hengtai coal mine in Qitaihe in Heilongjiang province. At least 19 miners escaped immediately, while three others remain missing, said provincial vice governor Xu Guangguo.

Till Tuesday morning, more than 130 million litres of water has been pumped out.

The mine is one of many that have been operating illegally, despite the government's efforts to shut down outdated mines.

The government previously ordered the mine to stop production in 2007. However, the owner restarted production without permission Aug 16, officials said.