Five villagers were killed by poisonous gas in a coal mine in southwest China's Yunnan Province, said the government of Fuyuan County in Qujing City of Yunnan Province on Friday.

The five victims, four brothers and one fellow villager, were found dead in the underground water of a coal mine in Dahe Village after they tried to get coal on Tuesday night. The coal mine was full of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, which were the cause of their deaths, according to sources.

The coal mine was an illegal mine dug by the five villagers. The local government had searched the place for other illegal mines, sources said.
 
(Xinhua News Agency July 3, 2004)