XI'AN -- Five people were trapped underground in wake of a coal mine fire in Northwest China's Shaanxi province Friday, local authorities said.

The fire occured at noon in the shaft of a colliery run by Xinhe Coal Mining Company in Chengcheng county when 11 workers were doing some repair work undergound, the county government's information office said in a statement.

Six workers returned to the ground safely and rescuers are trying to reach the rest.

Xinhe Coal Mining Company, with an annual production capacity of 300,000 tonnes, has been under rectification and maintainance.