Four workers were killed and 13 others injured after a conveyer belt snapped at a coal mine in north China's Hebei Province on Monday morning.

The belt, used to transport miners in and out of the inclined shaft, snapped at about 6:20 a.m. at the Wannian Coal Mine of Jizhong Energy Group Co., Ltd. in Handan City, said Li Yuesheng, in charge of publicity affairs with the company.

Around 6 a.m., several workers, who were returning outside after work, got on the belt which was being repaired. Other workers followed them without knowledge of the repair, Li told Xinhua.

The weight of the workers caused the sloping belt to slide at a fast speed, and then it snapped.

Four people died at the scene and 13 were injured, two seriously. The injured are receiving treatment in hospital.

The accident occurred during a shift change, which made it difficult to determine the number of workers on the belt at the time, Li said, adding that no further details were available at this stage.

The coal mine has an annual output of 2 million tonnes and more than 4,000 workers.

A similar accident happened last month at a coal mine of Shenzhou Mining Co., Ltd., in the northern Shanxi Province, when the rope of a cable car, carrying 42 miners returning outside, snapped. It left five people dead and 37 others injured. Two executives of the company were sacked as a result.

(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2008)