Anxious colleagues waited in vain for news of survivors

England have  

At least 177 people have died during a lethal fire in a South African gold mine.

Poisonous gas spread rapidly through the shafts and tunnels of the Kinross mine in the Eastern Transvaal, killing most of the miners where they worked.

Six men are still missing but it is believed there is little chance of them being found alive.

A welder's spark ignited plastic foam lining the walls of a tunnel, starting the fire which resulted in one of the worst disasters in mining history.

The foam is used to stop water seepage, but contains a sealant called Rigiseal which gives off poisonous fumes when it burns.

The chemical is banned from use in British pits, and is soon to be barred in Australia.

The fire spread rapidly, and a spokesman for the mine's owners confirmed many of those killed had little chance of escaping.

"I think most of the 170 people succumbed to the toxic fumes in or near their place of normal work," he said.

A British man working at the mine said: "They didn't stand a chance - they were trapped by the smoke."

The South African National Union of Mineworkers accused the owners of Kinross of not paying enough attention to the safety of their employees.

The union leader, Cyril Ramaphosa, told the BBC the disaster could have been avoided.

"We are horrified that this type of accident can take place in this day and age in the mining industry.

"In our view we are obviously back to the dark ages of mining - and there doesn't seem to be much improvement in safety standards," he said.

Marc Bolan: Ready to make a comeback

The 29-year-old former T-Rex singer was killed instantly when the car being driven by his girlfriend, Gloria Jones, left the road and hit a tree in Barnes.

Miss Jones - an American singer who had just returned from the US - broke her jaw and is suffering from shock.

The couple's 20-month-old son was not in the car when they crashed at 0400 BST on the way to Mr Bolan's home in Richmond after a night out at a Mayfair restaurant.

Miss Jones' brother - who was following their purple mini - told police the car was travelling at 30 mph (48.3 km/h) when it crashed at a notorious accident blackspot.

Phillip Evans-Lowe was driving to work at a local dairy when he witnessed the smash.

"When I arrived a girl was lying on the bonnet and a man with long dark curly hair was stretched out in the road - there was a hell of a mess, I rushed to get the police," he said.

According to the dead star's manager who was with them during the evening, Miss Jones had been drinking moderately at the restaurant.

"They did not have a lot to drink - just a bottle of wine with the meal and a few after," he said.

Mr Bolan had just completed a television series and was said to be poised to make a comeback after spending the last three years abroad as a tax exile.

His former manager, Tony Secunda, said the son of a Hackney porter whose real name was Mark Feld had always feared he would die in a car crash.

"He would never drive a car, he was always scared - Marc never had a driving licence, he refused to learn," he said.

lethal: deadly; mortal; fatal（致命的）

welder: joins pieces of metal by welding them together（焊接工）

seepage: water that seeped or oozed through a porous soil（渗流）

succumb to: be fatally overwhelmed（死；屈从）

notorious: having an exceedingly bad reputation（声名狼籍的）