Russian coal billionaire Mikhail Fediaev, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, was arrested after an accident at one of his mines in November in Siberia that killed 51 people, investigators announced Wednesday.
The owner of the SDS-Ugol group and three other company officials were arrested on charges of violations of industrial safety regulations and abuse of authority, said the Investigative Committee of Russia, in charge of large causes.
“The investigators intend to request the preventive detention of all detainees,” said this source.
Although industrial accidents are common in Russia, it is rare for extremely wealthy and influential tycoons to be prosecuted or imprisoned.
Fediaiev, 59, is a leading figure from the Kemerovo region of Siberia, where the mining sector is the engine of the economy. His fortune, of about 550 million dollars, ranks 177 among the richest personalities in Russia, according to Forbes magazine.
Last November 25, 51 people – including five rescuers – died in an accident at a coal mine in Listviajnaya, belonging to SDS-Ugol.
An explosion caused by a mixture of oxygen and methane probably caused the accident, when a total of 285 people were in the mine.
Accidents in mines in Russia, as in other parts of the former Soviet Union, are often related to a lack of respect for safety regulations, poor management or the deterioration of facilities.
The deadliest accident in recent years left 91 dead and more than 100 injured in May 2010 at the Raspadskaya mine, also in the Kemerovo region, where there are many coal deposits.
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