A fire in a coal mine in northeast China has left six miners dead and 15 others injured, local government sources confirmed on Tuesday.

The fire occurred on Sunday afternoon at the Dongfang No.1 mine in Dongliang Town, Liaoning Province, when 35 miners were working inside, a spokesman with Fuxin city government told Xinhua.

Six miners were suffocated to death by the fumes and 15 others were injured, according to the spokesman. Another 14 managed to escape from the mine unharmed.

The injured miners are currently receiving treatment in local hospitals.

The owner of the mine attempted to handle the accident himself and did not report it to local work safety authorities.

The privately-run mine was preparing to resume operations following a recent suspension for safety reasons when the fire broke out. All coal mines in the area suspended production on Feb.10 as required and are not permitted to resume operations if they fail to meet local authorities' safety requirements.

A flooding on March 10 at another coal mine in the province killed at least 23 workers.

(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2007)