Brothers become violent over trapped miners

? A quick outburst of violence by relatives of 172 miners trapped in a flooded coal mine brought a tearful promise of Chinese government action Monday, even as state media said the miners’ chances for survival were dwindling.

Two brothers of a missing miner and his grown son, frustrated that an earlier request for a briefing had not been met, and two other men smashed a reception window and display cases at a company offices with wooden sticks. They then rushed around the corner into the sprawling Huayuan compound, followed by five other relatives.

Barred by police and security guards from entering the main administration building, they staged a sit-down protest demanding regular briefings on the rescue.

After days of seeming official indifference, a vice governor of Shandong, the eastern province where the mine is located, came out and met with them.

“Our hearts are as sad as yours,” Vice Governor Wang Junming said, crying as he spoke. He promised them the government would be more responsive.