The death toll from a elevator cage accident in a mine in northwest China has risen to seven after bodies of six workers were retrieved Friday, the provincial work safety authorities said.

A misoperated elevator plunged when 11 workers were working in a under-construction shaft of the Xizhuozi Coal Mine in Shaanxi Province, on Dec. 23. Only two workers escaped unharmed. One was killed at the scene, two were injured and six others were trapped, said a spokesman with the provincial work safety bureau.

Rescue work had been very difficult as the shaft was very narrow, deep, and also flooded, he said.