Bid to release toxic gas from blast-tragedy mine in US

Drilling was being carried out today in a bid to release toxic gas from a mine where four people were feared trapped following an explosion in which 25 were killed.

Two others were injured in Monday’s blast at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia.

A build-up of methane gas and carbon monoxide made it too dangerous for anyone to go inside to look for the last of the missing and to recover the bodies of 18 known dead.

Seven bodies were brought out after the explosion rocked the mine, site of the worst underground disaster in the US in more than a quarter of a century.

Once the mine is ventilated, officials say teams will need four or five hours to reach the area where rescue workers believe the missing miners are.