Eighteen miners were trapped after a coal mine blast on Wednesday afternoon in Lianyuan city of central China's Hunan Province, local officials said Thursday.

Eighteen miners were trapped after a coal mine blast  in Lianyuan city of central China's Hunan Province on December 17, 2008. [Photo: Xinhua]

The blast occurred at 3:15 PM as 32 miners were working, and 14 managed to escape.

Rescuers are trying to contact the trapped miners.

The township-owned Guaziyan colliery opened in 1997. It has a designed annual capacity of 30,000 tons but has sought to double that level.

All coal mines in Lianyuan city halted production for safety checks and an investigation into the cause of the incident was launched.