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According to state-owned news agency Xinhua, the accident took place at around 11:15 a.m. on Saturday when some personnel were moving around the mining site, located near the city of Baiyin. Those that survived the accident said that a mountainside collapse occurred which buried their coworkers as well as some vehicles.

Xinhua’s report points out that the Ministry of Emergency Management has sent a working group to conduct an investigation and support the rescue efforts already being carried out by national rescue and local firefighting teams.

China’s mines are among the world’s deadliest. Last February, 14 people were killed after another coal mine collapsed in the southwestern Guizhou province.

Safety and environmental concerns have led some political leaders in the Asian country to call for an end to small coal mines, whose annual capacity is below 300,000 tonnes.