A miner was killed and eight others were trapped in a gas outburst at a state-run coal mine in southwest China today, local officials said.
The accident took place when 12 miners were tunnelling a mine shaft at the Bailongshan Coal Mine at Qujing city in Yunnan Province, spokesman with the city's emergency response office.
Three of them were lifted out of the shaft, said a spokesman with the city's emergency response office, he said.
Rescuers are trying to reduce the gas density to save the trapped miners, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The cause of the accident is being investigated, the report said.
The coal mine is operated by the Diandong Energy Co. Ltd. under the China Huaneng Group, a major state-owned energy company.
