Death toll in Henan mine disaster set to rise

China's sickening mine safety record, the world's worst by several factors, took another hit with news that toxic fumes threatened the lives of 86 miners still trapped in a Henan coal mine where a blast Wednesday night claimed 62 lives. The explosion, at the state-owned Daping Mine in Xinmi city, was blamed on a gas build-up. Some 298 of the 446 miners on shift are known to have escaped, although several were being treated in hospital, some in critical condition. Officials left little hope that the trapped 86 will survive.