Criminality suspected in Chongqing mine fatalities

Photo taken on June 4, 2014 shows the management board of the coal mine in which an accident claimed 22 lives in Chongqing, southwest China. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng)

The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPC) has sent staff to investigate possible crimes behind the latest deadly coal mine accident in southwest China's Chongqing, it said on Thursday.

Twenty-two people were killed when a gas blast hit the mine in Wansheng District at about 5:40pm on Tuesday.

Directly after the accident, the SPC sent a team to Chongqing to guide the local procuratorate's investigation of possible dereliction of duty and other crimes by officials and personnel, it said in a statement.

The coal mine belongs to the state-owned Nantong Mining Co., Ltd, the largest coal producer in Chongqing.

Local authorities began investigating the accident on Tuesday evening.

A team led by Fu Jianhua, deputy director of the State Administration of Work Safety, also arrived in Chongqing on Wednesday to oversee the investigation and the handling of aftermath.

The Chongqing Municipal Administration of Coal Mine Safety earlier reported it as a "gas incident."

A total of 28 miners were working down the shaft, the administration said. Six of them managed to escape, with two injured in the process.