Mine Accident: 18 Killed In Underground Gas Leak In China

Beijing: At least eighteen people have died, while one other person was rescued after an accident due to excessive levels of carbon monoxide at a coal mine in China's Chongqing, authorities said on Saturday.

The accident took place at around 5 p.m. on Friday at the closed Diaoshuidong colliery in Yongchuan district, Xinhua news agency reported.

Twenty-four miners were trapped in the accident site at the Diaoshuidong mine in the city of Chongqing, around 1,800km south-west of Beijing on Friday, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

The accident occurred while workers were dismantling underground mining equipment in the pit, CCTV reported. The mine had been closed for the previous two months.

The rescue operation is underway, while the cause of the accident is being investigated, added reports.

Earlier in 2013, as many as three people died at the mine, accoring to Xinhua, In 2018, seven miners died after a skip plummeted down a mine shaft in Chongqing.

(With IANS/The Guardian inputs)