BEIJING - ELEVEN miners died from asphyxiation in an accident on Saturday at a coal mine in northern China, state media reported.

Two miners were injured and four others escaped from the mine in Shuozhou, in Shanxi province, Xinhua news agency said, citing mining company officials.

Xinhua said the mine was under construction but did not give details of the circumstances surrounding the accident.

Ten miners were killed in a gas explosion on Friday in southwest China, the agency reported earlier.

China's coal mines are notoriously dangerous. Official figures show that more than 3,200 workers died in collieries last year, but independent observers say the actual figure could be much higher, as many accidents are covered up. -- AFP