Hope fading fast for trapped coal miners

THE chances of saving 141 trapped coal miners were “extremely slight,” an official said yesterday as rescuers pumped out noxious fumes from the mine after a gas explosion in central China.

Twenty-five miners were confirmed dead.

Early rescue efforts following the blast on Sunday were blocked by high levels of carbon monoxide and thick smoke in the Chenjiashan Coal Mine, in the central province of Shaanxi.