At least 52 people have died and more of 51 have been injured this Thursday due to an accident in a mine in the Russian province of Kemerovo, located in Siberia, as confirmed by regional authorities.
The assistant attorney general, Dimitri Demeshin, has indicated that “it was probably a methane explosion resulting from a spark”, adding that the incident “has traumatized people who have not been able to get out.”
At the time of the event there were 285 people in the mine, located in the town of Belovo, although the authorities consider that 35 would still be trapped inside.
In addition to mine workers, six rescue workers have died. The mine manager has been detained, Reuters reports.
Demeshin has reported that a group of representatives of the Russian Investigation Committee have traveled to the scene to investigate the causes of the event.
Shortly after the event, the Governor of Kemerovo, Sergei Tsiviliov, has decreed a three day mourning by the dead miners. In addition, he has traveled to the area to meet with the families of the victims and the miners.
However, he has stated that for the moment it has not been possible to establish communication with the trapped miners and has added that more than 150 members of the rescue teams work there, as reported by the Russian news agency Sputnik. The rescue operation, however, has been paralyzed for the moment due to the concentration of methane gas.
The event took place around 8.30 am (2.30 am in mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands) at the Listvyazhnaya mine. Asked about the possibility of rescuing the rest of the trapped miners alive, the acting Minister of Emergencies, Alexandr Chuprián, has indicated that the workers’ breathing equipment is only designed to last four hours.
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