Death toll rises to 6 in Shandong gold mine fire

Six people died in a fire-related accident early Wednesday morning as workers conducted equipment maintenance at a gold mine in Zhaoyuan, a county-level city in Yantai of East China's Shandong province, according to Zhaoyuan's information office.

Four workers were saved and lifted out of the mine following the accident, which occurred at about 6 am. They are in stable condition and in a hospital for medical observation.

Liu Jiayi, Party chief of Shandong, arrived at the rescue site at noon and urged the rescuers to spare no effort and use every measure to search for the missing trapped workers.

The Ministry of Emergency Management sent a team to the site to guide rescue work. Nearly 200 rescuers, including fire workers and mine rescuers, joined the effort.

The gold mine, located at Xiadian town, started production in 1990, according to information on the Zhaoyuan government website.

Investigation into the accident is underway.