Mexico City, Jun 5 (AP) An accident at a small-scale coal mine project in a northern Mexico border state has left an undetermined number of miners trapped on Friday, officials said.

The Coahuila Labor Department did not say how many miners were missing, but local media were reporting there were seven.

The department said the mine was apparently hit by some sort of collapse and flooding. The mine, located in Muzquiz township, appears to be a type of deep, narrow, open coal pit with steep earth walls. The area is about is 80 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of Eagle Pass, Texas.

Rescue work was continuing to find the miners.

The small-scale coal mines of Coahuila have been hit by accidents in the past. A February 2006 methane gas explosion at a coal mine in Sabinas, Coahuila killed 65 miners.

Rescuers recovered the bodies of two miners but tons of wood, rock and metal, as well as toxic gas, hindered the recovery of the others. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)