Twelve construction workers digging up a tunnel for a high-speed railway near Changchun, capital of Jilin province, were trapped when the work site collapsed on Wednesday morning.

The incident was announced by the Jilin government on its Weibo microblog.

The workers were working on the Xiapanling No. 1 tunnel in Yanbian, a key portion of the 359-kilometer railway near the border with North Korea.

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Local emergency teams have been dispatched to rescue the trapped workers.

Emergency command centers were also being set up in Jilin, according to provincial party chief Wang Rulin who arrived at the command center.

Police, firefighters and medical teams are now in the area to render assistance and dig out the twelve workers.

The Jilin-Hunchun train line is a major development project for Jilin under the 12th Five Year Plan (2011-2015), and is part of three major railway projects aimed at bringing North Korea closer into China's economic hub in its northeast region.

The trains for the Jilin-Hunchun will have speeds of 250 kilometer per hour (155 mph), through nine stations.

The entire project costs 41.6 Billion yuan or US$6.71 Billion and is expected to be completed and operational before 2014 ends.