BEIJING -- Chinese state media report at least two people have died and more than 50 are missing following a collapse at an open pit mine in the country’s northern Inner Mongolia region.

The official Xinhua News Agency said people were buried under debris at the mine in Alxa League on Wednesday afternoon. Rescuers brought out three people, two of whom showed no signs of life.

Other state media reports gave the total number of missing at 57 and said vehicles were also buried in the collapse.

Inner Mongolia is a key region for mining coal and other minerals in China, which critics say has ravaged the original landscape of mountains, grassy steppe and deserts.