Three men robbed an ancient tomb in Xianyang, northwest China's Shaanxi province on Wednesday. Two of the men died from a lack of oxygen. The third man surrendered to the police.

According to preliminary investigation, three men, surnamed Shi, Guo and Lu, had planned to rob an ancient tomb. They began digging the hole to the tomb on Tuesday night. After a whole night’s work, Shi and Guo suffocated. Lu was unable to pull them out of the hole by himself, so he called some friends to come help. However, when Shi and Guo arrived at the hospital, they were found to be already dead.

Police said that Guo had been punished for robbing the grave before. The case is still under investigation. The current condition of the tomb remains to be further verified by local cultural relics experts.

According to local villagers, this is not the only case of grave robbing in the area since several ancient tombs were found near the village.