Three people were confirmed dead and 15 remained trapped after a fire occurred in a colliery in north China's Shanxi Province on Wednesday night, the local government said on Thursday.

Altogether 36 people were working in the pit when the fire broke out at Huquangou mine at 11:00 PM, and half of them managed to escape, a spokesman with the city government said.

Rescuers found three bodies in the shaft at 7:00 AM on Thursday, and are still searching for the missing.

Rescuers are having difficulty in putting out the fire, which investigators said broke out on an underground cable.

Huquangou, located in Zuoyun County, is fully licensed and was designed to produce 150,000 tons a year.

(Xinhua News Agency September 20, 2007)