Mine rescuers dig with bare hands

Rescuers used shovels and bare hands yesterday to dig out miners buried after a gas explosion deep in a coal mine in southwestern Pakistan, lining up wooden caskets to await the bodies from an accident that left 52 feared dead. More than 200 people stood outside the mine waiting to help or hear news from the search, but since the accident on Sunday only 27 bodies have been recovered.

"We have yet to dig out and search the remaining two wings, but there is zero per cent chance we can get anybody alive," said a government mine inspector.