The site of the gold mine where a deadly cage drop accident occured on February 7, 2026, killing 7 people. Photo: Screenshot of CCTV News

Eleven people, including the gold mine manager, have been placed under control after an accident killed seven at Canzhuang gold mine in Zhaoyuan, East China's Shandong Province, on February 7, CCTV News reported Tuesday.

The cage drop accident occurred at around 8:50 am on Saturday in a blind shaft at the Shangzhuang section of the gold mine, resulting in the death of seven people. Follow-up management is underway. Emergency management, public security and other relevant departments have launched an investigation into the cause of the accident and issues including the suspected underreporting by the company.

Zhaoyuan emergency management authorities said that after the accident, the company did not file a report of the accident in a timely manner. Zhaoyuan authorities verified and confirmed the accident on-site after receiving a tip-off on Monday.

So far, the manager, chief engineer, deputy mine managers in charge of safety, production and electrical and mechanical services of Canzhuang Gold Mine, as well as the mine manager, chief engineer, deputy mine managers in charge of safety, production and electrical and mechanical services of the Shangzhuang section, and the work unit director have been put under control, per the CCTV News report.

Reporter observed on site that the entrance of the shaft where the accident occurred had been closed, with a security cordon set up around it, CCTV News reported.

According to local authorities, the steel ropes broke while workers were descending to the third ore section underground, causing the cage to fall 240 meters to the bottom of the shaft, according to CCTV News. The direct cause of the accident is that the double-insurance steel ropes broke at the same time, which is extremely rare.

Global Times-Agencies