A coal mine explosion in southeastern China killed 11 workers, injured seven and left two missing at a coal mine in the south-western province of Sichuan, the government said Thursday.

The State Administration of Work Safety said on its website that 36 miners were underground when the blast occurred at the Xinglong Mine in in Luxian county Wednesday night of Sichuan Province, but 24 were rescued from the shaft. One died on the way to hospital, official reports said.

"Eight of them are injured and one died on the way to hospital," the official said. One of the seven injured miners was in serious condition, he added.

China, which has the world's deadliest mining industry, has been struggling to clean up the sector, which last year killed more than 4,700 people, according to figures from the State Administration of Work Safety, China's safety watchdog, an average of 13 deaths per day. Safety inspectors were investigating the cause of the explosion, but the mine is known to have a high density of gas.

Out-of-date equipment, illegal mining as well as poor safety systems and supervision are behind many accidents, which are often covered up. Owners continue to push production beyond safe limits to reap profits and meet the country's surging appetite for fuel.

Investigators said the Xinglong mine was a legal, fully registered county-run mine with annual output of 60,000 tons.