Eight people were killed in a mining accident in China’s Pingdingshan, in Henan province, on Friday.

Henan: At least eight people were killed and several were missing after an accident took place on Friday (local time) in a coal mine in Pingdingshan, Xinhua reported, citing local authorities. The incident took place at around 2.55 pm when as many as 425 people were working inside the coal mine of the Pingdingshan Tianan Coal Mining Co., Ltd.

Xinhua reported that 380 of the trapped miners were extracted safely, while preliminary investigations revealed that the accident was caused by a coal and gas outburst.

The agency reported, quoting the city’s emergency management agency, that of 1 am (local time) on Saturday, of the 45 missing miners, eight were confirmed dead and another eight were reported to be still missing.

Notably, the incident occurred three weeks after a mining accident in northeast China that claimed the lives of 12 people.

The incident took place on December 21 at a coal mine located on the outskirts of Jixi city in Heilongjiang province.

Mining safety in the neighbouring country has improved in recent years, after media coverage of major incidents. However, these accidents are still common in industries where regulations are not necessarily enforced.

(Note: this is a developing story and further details will be added.)