Two miners have been rescued and three others are still trapped underground after a colliery gas leak in east China's Anhui Province Thursday, local government said.

The accident occurred at about 9:47 AM in a coal pit of Wushi Mining Company in Ningguo City, leaving four drilling workers and one gas inspector trapped in the shaft.

One drilling worker and the gas inspector have been lifted out of the pit by Thursday evening, the Ningguo municipal government said. The two are in stable condition.

Rescue work continues.

In another fatal accident in the central province of Hunan, 26 miners have died as two lifters in a tin ore mine plunged because of brake failure at about 9:15 AM Thursday.

(Xinhua News Agency October 9, 2009)