Beijing, Aug 18 : Three people were killed and three others remained missing following a coal mine accident in Weixin County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, local authorities confirmed on Sunday.

The accident, which took place at around 5:40 a.m. on Sunday at a coal mine in Santao Township, is suspected to involve a coal and gas outburst, according to the county's emergency management department, Xinhua news agency reported.

Rescue operations are currently underway at the site and further details are awaited.

Coal mine-related incidents have repeatedly occurred in China. Earlier in August, four people died from suffocation in a coal mine shaft in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and before that in March, seven miners were trapped in an accident in an underground warehouse of a coal mine in north China's Shanxi Province. They were later confirmed dead.

/IANS