Striking miners in Bolivia have kidnapped and beaten to death the country's deputy interior minister after he travelled to the area to mediate in the bitter conflict, government colleagues have said.

Rescuers have pulled out four miners who had spent 36 days trapped underground in a collapsed mine in China, according to state media.

Anger and grief boiled over into a violent protest in the western Turkish town of Soma, where officials said at least 274 miners died in a coal mine explosion and fire.