Photo: panzhou.gov.cn

On Sunday morning fire killed 16 miners at a coal mine in Panguan township, Panzhou city, Southwest China’s Guizhou Province, the local authority announced on Sunday evening. 

According to a statement from the publicity department of Panzhou city, the incident happened around 8:10 am on Sunday in the Shanjiaoshu coal mine. 16 people were trapped. 

Preliminary investigation shows that the disaster was caused by transport tape that was caught on fire. 

The fire had been put out by the mine rescue team as of Sunday evening and the temperature and gas of the workplace had returned to normal. 

With preliminary verification, the 16 people showed no sign of life. 

Other related work is still ongoing as of Sunday evening. 

Global Times