Photo: Agencies

TAIYUAN, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Six people have been confirmed dead as of Tuesday afternoon after a tunnel under construction collapsed in north China's Shanxi Province, local authorities said Tuesday.

The accident occurred at around 4 p.m. Monday at a tunnel on a highway in the city of Jincheng, trapping six people who were working on the site, according to the local publicity authorities.

One of them was rescued and sent to a nearby hospital but died later Monday, while rescuers retrieved the bodies of another five victims from the collapsed tunnel as of Tuesday afternoon.

An estimated 200 cubic meters of debris was blocking the tunnel. Further investigation is underway.