According to a state broadcaster, more than 170 rescue workers, including medical workers and firefighters, are working to free 18 coal miners trapped in a tunnel in China's eastern Shandong province.
One source said the miners were trapped after a rock burst at the Longyun Coal Mining Company in Yuncheng County at approximately 11 p.m. (10 a.m EST) on Saturday.
The incident destroyed part of a water drainage tunnel in the coal mine, killing two and trapping another 20 workers, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
According to the Authorities, one miner was rescued on Monday.
Rock burst accidents are often caused by fractures in rocks due to mining.
Mining accidents are not uncommon in China. In 2018, there were 219 coal mining accidents in total, according to official statistics, killing 375 people.
Less than a week before this accident in Shandong five people died in a gas explosion at a coal mine.