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11 dead in gold mine tragedy
08/09/2006 12:57 - (SA)
Moscow - Rescue workers battled in smoky, airless conditions on Friday in search of more than 20 men trapped by a fire in a British-owned mine in Russia's far east, after at least 11 miners were found dead.
Workers and equipment were brought in from other regions of Russia to help in the rescue effort after the fire broke out on Thursday at the Darasun mine in Chita province, which borders China and Mongolia, said Natalya Abraminkova, spokesperson for the provincial governor.
"We know about 11 dead. We have raised to the surface and identified eight of them. The rescue operation is being aggravated by high levels of gas," Abraminkova told AFP by telephone.
"We want to know if there are still people alive.... There is still hope," she said.
A spokesperson for the British owner of the mine, Highland Gold Mining, said that 12 bodies had been recovered from the mine.
"The fire unfortunately is continuing," the spokesperson, Dmitry Yakushkin, told AFP. "The situation is serious."
Of the 64 miners below ground at the time of the fire, 31 were rescued.
Rescuers had split into two groups, with one working in a neighbouring mine shaft which the missing men may have penetrated, the Russian news agency Interfax said.
The complex rescue operation was taking its toll on rescue workers, a number of whom had been hospitalised for poisoning and burns, a spokesperson for the emergency situations ministry in the region, Roman Sidorov, said.
"This mine is more than 100 years old. Its ventilation system is old and practically not working," Sidorov told ITAR-TASS.
Initial reports suggested the cause of the fire was welding work that was being carried out underground.
The Russian natural resources ministry said the fire was "the result of not observing technical regulations".
As a result of the fire, Russia's natural resources inspectorate could order Highland Gold Mining to suspend operations, said the inspectorate's deputy head, Oleg Mitvol.
A list of other mines to be inspected for their safety standards was being drawn up, Mitvol said.
Russia's mining sector has had a poor safety record, with accidents taking a high toll in recent years, although the gold mining sector is regarded as less hazardous than the coal mining sector.
Highland Gold Mining, listed on the London Stock Exchange, owns and operates a number of mines across the Russian far east and estimates its gold equivalent ore reserves at eight million ounces.
The Darasun mine produced 25 500 ounces last year, according to statistics from the company.
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