Saving lives should be taken as the top priority during the quake relief after nearly 15,000 confirmed dead, a high profile meeting of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee was told Wednesday.

The first batch of 100 elite soldiers were parachuted on Wednesday afternoon into an area near the epicenter of Monday's earthquake in southwest China.

An operation to rescue more than 3,000 trapped miners in South Africa is proceeding well and so far 1,650 miners have made it to the surface.

Thousands of miners were being painstakingly brought to the surface after spending hours trapped more than two kilometres underground at a gold mine in South Africa.

Tanya Rider, 33, had been missing for 8 days. She had been last seen leaving for work on September 19, 2007. Rider was found alive at the Tanya_Riderbottom of a ravine in her SUV on Thursday afternoon.

Ground Operations Suspended After Rescue Workers Killed in Utah Mine Collapse.

Aid workers in Peru are struggling to rescue hundreds of people after a massive earthquake ravaged the Peru's coast, killing at least 337.

The detection of emergency beacons will be greatly improved by the introduction of Europe's satellite positioning system, Galileo. The Galileo satellites will carry transponders to relay distress signals to search and rescue organisations.

Rescuers poured milk down a coal mine's ventilation pipes in a bid to save 69 workers trapped underground for more than 50 hours in central China, state media said on Tuesday.