BEIJING—At least five workers were killed in a roof collapse at a mine in southwestern China, as hope appeared to be fading for 47 miners trapped under tons of rubble after a mining disaster last week in northern China.
In the mine in Sichuan province, 25 miners were underground when part of the roof collapsed Sunday morning. Five were killed, three were badly injured and the others escaped, the provincial Department of Emergency Management said. Reports said the mine did not produce coal, but gave no details.
Meanwhile, the official death toll at the open-pit mine in the Inner Mongolian region’s Alxa League remains six with six others pulled from the rubble alive. The cause for the collapse of a mine wall on Feb. 22 is under investigation and an unknown number of people have been detained.
The actual number of casualties from such events may be much higher. The actual number of casualties is difficult to verify, as the Chinese regime routinely suppresses or alters information.
Calls to the Ministry of Emergency Management rang unanswered on Monday.
