Five miners are dead and six are missing after a gas burst at a coal mine in southwest China's Yunnan Province early Monday local authorities said.

The miners were working in a shaft of Malishu Coal Mine in Shuangbai County, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, when the accident happened at about 1:50 a.m., said a county government official.

Rescuers arrived at the mine at 4 a.m. and five bodies had been recovered as of 11 a.m., a rescue team spokesman said.

Provincial work safety authorities are investigating the cause of the gas burst.