Toll rises to 3 in China coal mine accident

The toll in the coal mine accident in eastern China has rose to three following the death of one of the two rescued miners during treatment, local authorities said on Monday.

Two miners had died while 18 other remain trapped after a rock burst ripped through a coal mine of the Longyun Coal Mining Company Ltd in Yuncheng county of Shangdong province on Saturday.

Two miners were rescued Sunday afternoon. They were undergoing treatment at a hospital in Shangdong.

Around 334 people were working underground at the time of the accident, of which 312 were lifted to safety.

"One of the two miners rescued after a rock burst accident at a coal mine died in hospital in East China's Shandong province on Sunday night, taking the death toll to three," local authorities were quoted as saying in the state-run China Daily.

Eighteen workers were still trapped in the mine, it said, adding around 170 rescue workers were taking part in the rescue operation which continued on Monday.