Three have been killed and eight injured after a coal mine blast on Sunday morning in the county of Yuan'an, central China's Hubei Province.

The local government said the explosion took place at 7:15 AM at the Hongjiaya Coal Mine in Maopingchang Township. Eleven out of 22 miners working underground managed to escape.

All the eight wounded are in a stable condition, according to the local hospital.

The local government has established a working team to investigate the cause of the blast.

Constructed in 2000, the colliery has a yearly production capacity of 30,000 tons.

The day before, another coal mine accident took place at 9:30 AM in the eastern province of Fujian when water leaked into Chikeng Coal Mine in Longyan's Xinluo District.

Fourteen miners were working underground at the time, and 12 are still trapped as rescue efforts continue.

(Xinhua News Agency and China Daily, May 30, 2005)