Rescuers dug out seven more bodies from beneath debris and broken rock on Monday night after parts of a rocky hill caved-in in Pingdingshan, a city in central China's Henan Province. Rescue workers said this raises the death toll to about eight.

The accident also left another 122 people injured, six of whom suffered serious burns, rescuers told Xinhua at the end of the day's search and rescue operations.

Rescuers wearing masks at the scene said the cave-in occurred at about 7:40 PM on Sunday, burying 18 houses some 100 meters from the hill, which belongs to the Pingdingshan Coal Industrial Group, one of the province's major coal producers.

Shortly after the accident, more than 200 rescuers were mobilized by local government to save miners trapped under the debris. Some rescuers used spades and even their hands to search for survivors.

Rescue operations were hampered when a combination of heavy rain and volatile coal ore caused an explosion inside the mine. About 40 rescuers suffered burns.

"We have rarely experienced such a thing," said an official who is guiding the rescue work at the scene. "But we need to investigate further to find out the exact cause of the collapse and the explosion."

"Putting out the fire inside the mine will be our key focus after we rescue all the trapped persons," he said.

The injured were sent to four nearby hospitals for treatment, and doctors from the provincial capital have been rushed to Pingdingshan City to back up local medical workers.

(Xinhua News Agency May 17, 2005)