This picture taken on August 1, 2015 shows a nearly 300 meter-high coal waste pile (background) at the Mong Duong coal mine following heavy rains in the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh.  (PHOTO / AFP)

HANOI - Four people have been killed in a collapse in a coal mine in Vietnam's mining centre of Quang Ninh, the state-run Thanh Nien newspaper reported on Sunday.

The accident happened late on Saturday at a mine operated by Vang Danh Coal Company, a unit of Vietnam's state coal miner Vinacomin, Thanh Nien reported.

A rescue team pulled out the bodies of four miners, it said.

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The newspaper did not give a reason for the collapse. In March a similar accident happened at a Vang Danh-operated mine but no one was killed.

Vinacomin said last year that mine accidents killed at least 17 miners in the first nine months of 2022.