Four people suffocated to death when they were attempting to steal cables from a mine shaft in Henan Province on January 29, Zhengzhou Daily reported today.

Yingyang police station received a report that several dead bodies were found in an abandoned mine shaft in Wangtang Village, Yingyang Town, at 6 PM on January 29.

Police reached the scene, discovering that a small entrance was dug out of the closed mine shaft, which doesn't have a ventilation systems or power supply.

After the 15-hour rescue, police were able to get the four bodies out of the shaft, the report said.

The bodies were identified as four local villagers, who sneaked into the mine shaft to steal cables with handsaws and torches on January 27, but they suffocated to death because of lack of oxygen when they reached 400 meters in the shaft, the police said after an investigation.

(Shanghai Daily February 5, 2007)