Four men who entered an abandoned underground mine in Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh allegedly with the intention to collect coal or scrap have died after inhaling toxic gas, a police official said on Friday.

The incident took place between 10pm and 11pm on Thursday in Dhanpuri, some 28 kilometres from the district headquarters, and the bodies were retrieved from the coal mine in the early hours of Friday, Superintendent of Police Kumar Prateek told PTI.