China mine death toll hits 31

The death toll from a coalmine blast in China rose to 31 yesterday, the government said, as hopes faded for six miners still trapped and anger grew among web users wishing for a Chile-style rescue.
Saturday's accident in the central province of Henan was the first major incident in China's notoriously dangerous mines since the dramatic rescue last week of 33 miners trapped for more than two months in Chile, which was watched worldwide.
State media joined Chinese Internet users in condemning the country's existing safety procedures, saying more needed to be done to reduce the massive mining death toll, which last year topped 2,600.
At the mine in the city of Yuzhou in Henan, rescuers pulled more bodies out of the dank coal pit, bringing the death toll to 31, with six still unaccounted for, the State Administration for Work Safety said.