Seven people have been confirmed dead in a coal mine gas leak Friday in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, a source with the mine said.

The accident at the Dahuangshan mine in Changji Hui autonomous prefecture, about 100 kilometers from the regional capital Urumqi, occurred at around 7 p.m. Friday, the source said.

The coal mine is owned by the sixth agriculture division of the Xinjiang Construction Corps, a paramilitary organization based in Xinjiang.

A Xinhua reporter is on the way to the site.

(Xinhua News Agency June 6, 2009)