In eastern China, Shandong province officials said today that 12 out of 22 miners trapped in a gold mine for nine days are alive, as more than 400 rescuers worked to bring them to the surface.<br />'' <br />''The State media said that a written note was sent to the surface through a rescue shaft last night which said that 12 miners are alive while the fate of the other 10 remains unknown. <br />''<br />''The handwritten note said, four of the workers were injured and that the condition of others was deteriorating because of a lack of fresh air and an influx of groundwater. It's a complex task as rescue teams are trying to clear debris from the explosion while drilling a new shaft to reach the trapped workers while the surrounding hard rocks make the drilling of the new shafts difficult.<br />'' <br />''Managers of the operation were detained after they failed to report the accident for more than a day after the explosion took place in the Hushan mine on 10th of January. However, the accident was reported only after 30 hours of the blast, leading to severe criticism of those responsible and the sacking of two senior local officials. The mine in Qixia, a jurisdiction under the city of Yantai, had been under construction at the time of the blast.<br />'' <br />''<span style="color: #222222;">Mining accidents are common in China, where the industry has a poor safety record and regulations are often weakly enforced. Among many coal mine accidents in China last year, the two fatal accidents towards the end of the year, claiming 23 lives in the southwestern city of Chongqing prompted the State Council's Work Safety Committee to summon the Chongqing government officials.</span><br />