According to official state media outlet Xinhua, three of the 12 miners working in the Honghe coal mine in the Chongqing municipality were safely lifted from the worksite while the five injured survivors were rushed to a nearby hospital.

Local authorities have not yet reported on the condition of the surviving miners.

No information has yet come to light about efforts to retrieve the bodies of the four victims, the legality of the mine or the immediate cause of the explosion.

A probe into the incident is underway.