XIANGNING, China — Floodwaters kept rescuers from reaching 33 miners still trapped in a Chinese coal pit today, and the recovery of five bodies dimmed hopes of another miracle a day after 115 survivors were pulled out after more than a week underground.

Toxic gas was also seeping into the mine as rescue work stretched into its 10th day. Rescue headquarters' spokesman Liu Dezheng said gas was at an "impermissible" level.

So far, there had not been any new signs of life from those still trapped, he said.

Rescuers were taking precautions to prevent explosions and to improve ventilation in the mine. Liu did not refer to a specific gas, but coal seams release large amounts of methane, which is highly combustible, and other dangerous gases.

The trapped workers were in three different spots in the mining shafts that were so far inaccessible because of the flooding, China Central Television reported. Pumping was hindered because of the narrowness of some parts of the underground passages, where large pumps won't fit, Liu said.

BAGHDAD — At least five massive bombs hit apartment buildings across Baghdad today, killing at least 39 people and wounding more than 130 in the latest sign Iraq's fragile security could dissolve in the chaos of the unresolved election.It was the fourth attack with multiple casualties across Iraq in five days, a spate of violence that has claimed more than 100 lives since Friday. The attacks have spiked as political leaders scramble to secure enough support to form a government after the March 7 parliamentary elections failed to produce a clear winner.Ayad Allawi, whose bloc came out ahead in the vote by two seats over Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's, said the political deadlock caused the recent wave of violence.Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, an Iraqi military spokesman for Baghdad's operations command center, said the attackers detonated blasts using homemade bombs and, in one case, a car packed with explosives. He said there were at least seven blasts; the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said there were five.Police and medical officials said the death toll was at least 39, and women and children were among the dead.

LONDON — Britain will hold a national election May 6, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced today. The bitterly contested race will be dominated by a recession-wracked economy and a sense that 13 years of Labour rule might be coming to an end.Brown met with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace to ask her to dissolve Parliament, marking the start of the general election campaign. Parliament will shut down Monday after concluding business.Brown, who has never won a national election as leader of his party, has a difficult task ahead, with Labour Party trailing in opinion polls and Britain's economy still fragile after the recession.Britain's opposition Conservatives — the party of former Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill — hope to win a national election for the first time since 1992.Brown's Labour Party is as much as 10 points behind the Conservatives and their articulate leader David Cameron in some opinion polls.