38 killed in coal mine blast
A methane explosion killed 38 people at a Siberian coal mine yesterday, just weeks after 110 miners died in a blast at a neighbouring mine operated by the same company. Rescue workers halted work as no more miners were thought to be missing at the...
A methane explosion killed 38 people at a Siberian coal mine yesterday, just weeks after 110 miners died in a blast at a neighbouring mine operated by the same company. Rescue workers halted work as no more miners were thought to be missing at the Yubileynaya pit in the Kemerovo region of western Siberia, emergency officials said.
Miners' relatives, many of them in tears, scoured a list of the dead hanging on a wall at the mine's headquarters.
"They will start bringing the bodies to the surface now," said one woman with tears welling in her eyes. "They say they have identified everyone."
The blast ripped through the mine at 0740 Moscow time (0340 GMT) when 217 people were below ground.
Russia's industrial safety watchdog said its inspectors had twice applied to have the Yubileynaya mine closed for safety violations, including in the shaft at the centre of the blast, but they were overruled by local courts. Miners with coal stained faces smoked nervously as a soft drizzle fell on the mine, a collection of rusting and poorly painted Soviet-era buildings surrounded by wooded hills.
Kemerovo governor Aman Tuleyev declared Saturday a day of mourning in the region. President Vladimir Putin, on a visit to Western Europe, expressed his condolences.