SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A flood in a coal mine in eastern China has left 172 people missing, while 584 other miners have been rescued, the official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

Heavy rain was pouring down as rescue efforts continued before dawn at Xintai in Shandong province, Xinhua reported.

The cause of the flooding, which occurred on Friday afternoon, was still under investigation.

Poor safety precautions make Chinese coal mines among the most dangerous in the world. About 1,800 coal miners died in accidents during the first half of 2007.

Earlier this month, 69 coal miners were rescued in the central province of Henan after being trapped underground for three days by flooding caused by heavy rain.