TAIYUAN -- A coal mine blast has left six people dead in north China's Shanxi Province, a local official said on Thursday.

The dynamites underground blew up at an illegal coal mine located at the Xinglin village, Gujiao City, on June 28, said Pan Fuguan, director of the Taiyuan bureau of the Shanxi Provincial Coal Mine Safety Administration.

The bureau received the report on the accident from an anonymous person on June 29, and immediately began investigating into the accident, Pan said.

The official did not reveal who were responsible for the accident and what penalties they would face.