HARBIN -- Six people were killed in a coal mine collapse on Sunday night in Qitaihe City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, local coal mine work safety supervisors confirmed on Monday.

At 10:50 p.m., a pit suddenly collapsed in Taoshan Coal Mine under the Qitaihe branch of Heilongjiang Longmei Coal Mine Group Ltd. Of the seven miners who were buried in the accident, one was rescued and six others were killed, said the city's coal mine work safety supervision authorities.

The cause of the accident is being investigated.

On November 27, 2005, a blast at the Dongfeng Coal Mine in Qitaihe, also under the Qitaihe branch of Heilongjiang Longmei Coal Mine Group, claimed 171 lives and injured 48 others, incurring 42.93 million yuan (US$5.4 million) in direct economic losses.