18 feared dead in Russian mine blast
2013-02-11 18:53
Moscow - Sixteen miners were killed and another two were
feared dead on Monday when a methane explosion tore through a coal mine in the
remote Russian Far North within the Arctic Circle, the latest disaster to hit
the country's accident-prone mining industry.
Two miners were still missing and feared dead after the
explosion at the Vorkutinskaya mine controlled by Russian steel-making giant
Severstal in the Komi region town of Vorkuta, the emergencies ministry said.
One of the rescued miners was "in extremely
grave" condition, health officials said separately.
A total of 259 miners were working underground at the
time, with 23 in the shaft where the explosion took place at the depth of 800m.
Five of the group in the shaft were rescued - two
received treatment at the scene and three were hospitalised - with the rest
either missing or dead.
"Rescue workers found 16 corpses and the fate of two
more people is unknown," the emergencies ministry said in a statement,
adding that the explosion was caused by methane.
The interior ministry for the Komi region said 18 miners
were dead but a Moscow-based spokesperson for the emergencies ministry refused
to confirm that figure before the two missing men are found.
"We are still hoping," spokesperson Elena
Smirnykh told AFP, although she admitted they might be dead.
Two of the hospitalised men were in intensive care, one
of them in "extremely grave" condition with multiple fractures,
injuries and burns, the regional health ministry said, describing the condition
of the second man as grave.
The third miner suffered burns to his face.
President Vladimir Putin ordered Emergency Situations
Minister Vladimir Puchkov to personally go to the mine to oversee the rescue
operation.
"The head of state expressed deep condolences to the
relatives and loved ones of the killed miners," the Kremlin said in a
statement.
The families of the dead miners will receive $66 000 each,
said emergencies ministry spokesperson Smirnykh.
A plane was dispatched from Moscow to the mine to help
with the rescue operation.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev tasked his deputy Arkady
Dvorkovich with the responsibility to provide assistance to families of the
dead miners.
"An accident took place in Komi," a grim-faced
Medvedev said in televised remarks. "Put together the complete information
and report on what is happening."
Criminal inquiry
The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal
inquiry into a possible breach of safety rules at a mine.
The mine in the northern city of Vorkuta is operated by
Vorkutaugol, part of Severstal's coal mining division whose mills it provides
with hard coking coal concentrate.
It has been working since 1973 with an output of 1.8
million tons of coal a year and its reserves of coal are estimated at 40
million tons.
Vorkutaugol spokesperson Yevgeny Sukharev said the
company paid "unprecedented attention" to safety standards.
"Everyone is in shock," he told AFP.
According to the company's website, in 2011 the
Vorkutinskaya mine won a corporate award for "worthy working conditions -
the basis for respect in the workforce".
Known for its extremely inhospitable climate, Vorkuta was
home to one of the most infamous Stalin-era prison camps, the Vorkuta Gulag.
Deadly blasts which are usually caused by a build-up in
methane gas remain a frequent occurrence in the coal mining industry in Russia
despite recent drives to improve safety.
In 2010, more than 60 people were killed in twin methane
blasts at Russia's biggest underground coal mine, the Raspadskaya mine in the
Kemerovo region of Siberia.
