The accident occurred at the Laojunmiao Colliery, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, when eight miners were working underground, Xinhua reported.

The agency reported while the miners were quickly rescued, five died on their way to hospital from "gas poisoning".

The local government told Xinhua the mine had been ordered to suspend operations on June 11 for safety improvement. Mine management said the miners were carrying out maintenance at the time of the collapse.

Meanwhile, 28 miners have been confirmed dead and six trapped in the Anxin coal mine in China's Shanxi Province.

The accident occurred on Friday last week. Fifteen managed to escape and another nine were saved by rescuers.