Rescuers at an illegal mine in north China's Hebei Province said they thought they heard a response from 11 trapped miners they have been searching for over the past four days.

The rescue team digging through a collapsed iron- and gold-ore pit at Xiaojun Mining Pit in Chengde City late on Thursday said they heard a tapping sound. The response provided great hope that the miners who had been trapped since the roof of a mine shaft collapsed late on Monday afternoon, were still alive.

Rescuers were feeding milk, medicine and blowing fresh air through pipes into the area they thought the miners were.

A complicated geological situation in the pit, however, has slowed the rescue. This has forced workers to reinforce the shaft when digging deep.

Investigators from the local government were trying to determine the cause of the accident.

(Xinhua News Agency December 8, 2007)