Hopes fade for trapped miners

Rescue workers at the scene of Sunday's mine blast in Shaanxi province said dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide were continuing to hold back efforts to search for missing miners. As of Tuesday morning the death toll from the blast at the Chenjiashan Coal Mine stood at about 50, with 116 miners still listed as trapped underground, state media reported. Rescuers said carbon monoxide levels in some parts of the mine were as high as 18 times the fatal level. Rescue workers said they were working to install several new ventilation systems to clear the gas from the tunnels, but with three days now passed since the explosion officials said there was little hope of finding more survivors.