A gang of 21 from Sichuan province defrauded iron ore mine owners in Hebei province out of 1.84 million yuan ($296,323) worth of accident compensation by killing four people in the mines and making it look like accidents.

Their case went to trial this week in the Intermediate People's Court of Handan, Hebei province, Yanzhao Metropolis Daily reported.

The indictment said three of the 21 killed a villager surnamed Jiang on Oct 26, 2011, about three months after they got him a job at an iron mine in Handan.

It said they smashed Jiang's face with stones until he died, then pried stones from the roadway to make it look like the stones had fallen on Jiang accidentally.

They were then accused of pretending to be Jiang's family and claiming damages from the mine owner of more than 610,000 yuan.

Using a similar swindle, the indictment said, the gang killed three others: one in November 2011, another in May 2012 and one in July 2012.

When they tried to collect damages from a mine owner in August, the owner got wise to their tricks and called the police.

The case was still pending on Friday.