35 feared killed in Russian coal mine blast

Moscow, May 24 (UNI) At least 35 miners were killed today in a methane explosion at Yubileinaya coal mine in the Kemerovo region of western Siberia.

''According to the latest information, the number of dead in the Yubileinaya coal mine had reached 35,'' an Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman told Interfax news agency.

Yubileinaya coal mine is the Russia's largest coal producing mine. The methane blast rocked the mine at 1440 hrs (GMT).

At the time of explosion, 217 miners were working underground.

Russian news agencies reported quoting official sources that 178 to 180 miners, including seven injured, had been brought to the surface.

The death toll in the blast might further rise as some coalminers remained unaccounted for, they said, adding that the condition of some of the injured was serious.

Russian Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu said rescue teams had flown to Kemerovo from neighbouring regions to help the 150 rescuers currently working at the scene.

''The federal centre will do everything that is required,'' Mr Shoigu said.

Kemerovo region Governor Mr Aman Tuleyev, who is leading a commission investigating the cause of the accident, declared May 26 a day of mourning.

Meanwhile, local prosecutors said they had opened an inquiry into a breach of safety rules at the mine.

The local branch of the Federal Environmental, Engineering and Nuclear Supervision Agency, a technological watchdog, told RIA Novosti news agency that the Kemerovo administration may withdraw a licence from the Yuzhkuzbasugol.

Kemerovo region coal mines have recently been rocked by a series of blasts and accidents. A methane blast at the nearby Ulyanovskaya mine killed more than 110 miners in March last.

UNI