Five Dead in Mexico Mine Accident

Five miners were killed and another reported missing Friday after an accident in a coal mine in northern Mexico, police said.

The police chief for Coahuila state, Jorge Luis Morales, told Milenio television that authorities hoped the missing miner would still be found alive.

The cause of the accident, which took place in the morning, was not yet clear, but a police source who requested anonymity told Agence France Presse an earthquake or a gas blast could have caused a cave-in.

At the time of the accident, about 200 miners were working in the mine, located between the towns of Palau and El Sauce. Most were quickly evacuated.

Last week, seven miners were killed in the same region in a gas blast.

Coahuila has seen a series of fatal mining accidents in recent years, including a 2007 disaster at the Pasta de Conchos mine that claimed 65 lives.

In a report published in November 2011, the country's human rights commission denounced the poor conditions in mines in the state.