KABUL (BNO NEWS) -- Eleven miners were killed on early Saturday morning when an explosion caused a coal mine to collapse in the northern region of Afghanistan, officials said. Several others were able to escape unharmed.

A spokesman for the governor's office said the accident happened at a coal mine in the Nahrin district of Baghlan province, which is located in the country's north, while about a dozen miners were working to extract coal from the mine.

Officials confirmed eleven miners were killed when an explosion caused the mine to collapse. Several others were able to escape the mine, which was reportedly operating illegally, unharmed. The cause of the explosion was not immediately known.

Although fatal accidents are relatively rare, safety conditions at mines in Afghanistan are among the worst in the world. Some mines employ children as young as 10 years old and miners usually work by hand and have little ventilation, equipment or safety gear.

Saturday's accident was the country's deadliest mine accident so far this year.

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