Seven killed, four injured in Russia's coal mine blast

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

Moscow, June 26 (UNI) At least seven miners were confirmed dead in a methane blast last night at Komsomolskaya coal mine in the arctic coal mining town of Vorkuta, in the Komi Republic (northern Urals) of Russia.

A search for three other miners was under way, the spokesman for the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry Viktor Beltsov told Interfax news agency today.

Beltsov added that four injured miners remained hospitalized, one of them in a very serious condition.

Earlier, media reports said that a methane explosion ripped through the mine at 2105 hrs Moscow time (2235 IST) yesterday, when there were 277 personnel underground.

248 miners made their own way to safety. The bodies of two miners were retrieved and raised to the surface, and 19 miners remained in the mine to assist the rescue effort.

Six rescue teams arrived at the scene to evacuate the miners.

Local prosecutors have launched an investigation into the blast, which comes in wake of a series of tragic blasts at the Russian coal mines since the beginning of this year.

Earlier, two latest blasts in May, at the Yubileinaya and Ulyanovskaya mines in Siberia's Kemerovo Region, killed a total of 150 people and injured many others.

UNI

For Daily Alerts
Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
X