Thirty-three miners are trapped inside a coal mine after a gas explosion in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing on Monday, according to city officials.
The condition of the trapped miners is unknown, according to a statement posted to the city press office’s official Weibo social media page.
The explosion happened at about 11:30 a.m. (11.30 p.m. Sunday ET) in Chongqing’s Yongchuan district, when 35 miners were in the mine, the statement said.
Two were able to escape, leaving 33 trapped underground. The cause of the explosion is under investigation, the statement said.
Mining accidents are not uncommon in China. In March, 12 people were killed by a gas leak in a mine in the northeastern province of Jilin, while in January, four miners were rescued after 36 days of being trapped underground. At least one miner died in that accident.
