Toll rises to 8 in the China coal mine accident

The toll from a coal mine accident in eastern China rose to 8 as the bodies of five more miners were retrieved, local authorities said on Friday.

The accident happened on Saturday after a rock burst ripped through a coal mine of the Longyun Coal Mining Company Ltd in Yuncheng county of Shangdong province, leaving two dead and 22 trapped in the tunnel.

Two bodies were retrieved underground early Thursday morning and three others were found in the afternoon, the rescue headquarters said.

While one person has been rescued, 13 miners are still trapped inside.

Only one person has been rescued. Thirteen miners are still trapped and rescuers are racing against the clock to locate them from two rescue passages, state-run Xinhua reported.

Rock bursts are often caused by fractures in rocks due to wear and tear from mining.

Mining accidents are common in China. However, the number of deaths have reduced at mines in recent years.

In June this year, a powerful explosion in a iron mine in country's northeast Liaoning province claimed the lives of 11 people and left nine others injured.

Similarly in May, a methane gas explosion ripped through a coal mine in central China's Hunan province, killing at least five workers.