China: 42 more miners rescued from mine

Rescuers pulled 42 more miners to the surface Saturday, more than 36 hours after they were trapped following a cave in at a coal mine in central China, but several other workers were still missing, state media reported.The rescues came after seven other miners were pulled out alive Friday from the mine in the city of Samenxia in Henan province. Eight miners were killed in Thursday nights accident, and three were still missing.Saturdays rescue was the biggest in the country since April 2010, when 115 miners were pulled out alive after being trapped for eight days in a mine in northern China.State broadcaster CCTV showed rescuers with helmets and oxygen tanks carrying the miners out of the mine shaft to ambulances. The miners lay on stretchers, wrapped with blankets with their eyes covered by towels to prevent them from being damaged by the sudden exposure to light after hours of being trapped.CCTV said the rescue work had been hindered by large amounts of coal dust thrown up by a rock explosion in the mine, which happened shortly after a small earthquake near the mine. Fourteen miners managed to escape when the accident happened, the official said.Following the accident, at least 200 workers dug a small rescue tunnel about 1,650 feet (500 meters) deep to try to reach the trapped miners..