SHIJIAZHUANG (Xinhua): Police were notified early on Friday that nine workers were trapped in an illegal coal mine that collapsed on Wednesday in the Guye District of Tangshan, a city in north China's Hebei Province.

A rescue operation is under way.

Police said the nine miners were hired by a businessman, Han Fengguo, who allegedly had an underground passage dug beneath his coal-retailing business, to enable illegal coal extraction from a mine owned by the Zhaogezhuang branch of Kailuan Group, a state-owned coal-mining giant.

The surface of the passage collapsed early on Wednesday during heavy rain, trapping the nine workers, according to a preliminary investigation.

Han has been detained by the police.

Tangshan, located on the Bohai Bay, is about 200 km northeast of Beijing.