Coal miners caught in pit flood

Police and rescuers are continuing efforts to save 172 miners stranded in Huayuan Mining coal pit in Shandong province, after heavy rain caused reservoirs to overflow and led to a break in a levee Friday, Bloomberg reported. Yesterday, rescue workers helped 584 of 756 miners out of the mine. A crowd of people protesting that rescue efforts were being called off toppled a fence, but officials said the rescue was ongoing and that safety measures were being taken in case of gas leaks and further flooding. China, the world's biggest coal producer and consumer, has one of the world's worst mine-safety records. A Shandong mine-safety official, said Sunday that the workers had only a slim chance of survival.