4 dead, 5 injured in SW China colliery blast

CHONGQING - Four miners were killed and five others injured in a coal mine gas blast in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality on Monday, local authorities said.

The blast occurred at around 11:30 am in Honghe Coal Mine in the county of Fengjie, sources with the Chongqing municipal work safety watchdog said.

A total of 12 miners were working underground when the accident happened, according to the sources. Three of them were lifted out of the mine safely.

The injured had been sent to a nearby hospital, yet their conditions are not currently available.

A probe into the cause of the accident is under way.