ISTANBUL

Seven people were killed in a weekend accident in a gold mine in Shandong, eastern China, authorities said Monday.

According to state-run Xinhua News, the emergency management department of the city of Zhaoyuan said the accident took place in a shaft at the Canzhuang gold mine at 8.50 am (0050GMT) Saturday, killing seven people.

Authorities have begun probing both the cause of the accident and allegations that it may have been covered up.

Separately, an explosion also took place Saturday at a biotech factory in northern China’s Shanxi province, killing at least eight people.