Three miners were trapped in a coal mine at Qujiang County of Guangdong Province, south China, Sunday evening and rescue work is still underway, a local government official said Tuesday.

The accident occurred at around 7:30 p.m. on Sunday when four workers were repairing the shaft about 40 meters underground at Futong Colliery, and one of them who happened to fetch tools out of the pit escaped the tragedy.

Rescuers are working round the clock to searching for the trapped.

The cave-in followed a blast Saturday evening in another coal mine in the county, which left two killed, one injured and three missing.

All coal mines in Shaoguan City, which has Qujiang under its jurisdiction, were ordered to suspend operation for safety examination beginning Monday.

Source: Xinhua