Two people have been confirmed dead after they were reported missing in a coal mine shaft in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Xinhua quoted local work safety authority as saying on Wednesday. The accident occurred at about 12:30 p.m. in Shanshan County, 280 km from the regional capital of Urumqi, when three workers went into a shaft to repair a water pump. The shaft has been abandoned for half a year, but two plants near the coal mine still use it as their industrial water source. The three separated underground and only one of them returned at2:30 p.m., leaving the other two missing. Local officials rushed to the site for rescue effort. By 10:40 p.m. Tuesday, the bodies of the two were found in the shaft. The cause of the accident is under investigation.
