Photo: Screenshot of a video posted by The Paper

China's emergency management officials have arrived in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong Province, after 14 people were trapped in a water-leaking tunnel in early morning on Thursday. 

The incident occurred at about 3:30 am at a tunnel construction section of Xingye Highway project in Zhuhai, according to a statement local emergency management posted on Thursday.

The workers first found the tunnel face was falling on a slant during the construction, and then a large amount of water came into the tunnel and gushed into the neighboring tunnel through the transverse passage when they trying to evacuate, said Yan Dawu, deputy general manager of China Railway No.2 Group who is in charge of the project, at a press conference on Thursday. 

14 workers were trapped at the tunnel face, 1,160 meters away from the opening. The rescue team could not get close to the tunnel face after many attempts due to the large and rapid water influx that has flooded the tunnel, he said. 

As of 15:30, more than 360 people and 115 sets of rescue equipment have been sent by the railway group to the site.

Huang Ming, China's Minister of Emergency Management, commanded the rescue work through a video conference with local authorities after receiving the notice in the morning, urging them to conduct an all-out search for the trapped people.

A joint working group led by Wu Xin, chief engineer of the Ministry of Emergency Management, has also arrived at the scene to guide the rescue work.

The Ministry of Emergency Management also dispatched rescue personnel with equipment from surrounding regions to the scene. The search for the trapped workers is under way.

Xingye Highway Express Line is an expressway that runs through the north and south of Zhuhai main city and connects with the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, according to media reports.