Russian rescuers race to save trapped miners
Source: Reuters
(Updates death toll and other details) By Andrei Borisov ULYANOVSKAYA MINE, Russia, March 20 (Reuters) - Rescuers raced on Tuesday to try and save 13 miners still trapped in a Siberian coal mine after Russia's deadliest mining accident for more than a decade killed 97 people. The rescuers toiled through the night in the hope of finding the missing men alive after a methane gas explosion ripped through the Ulyanovskaya mine on Monday. But no contact had been made with the men nearly 24 hours after the blast. "The search for 13 people is still under way," a spokesman for the regional administration said by telephone. He said 97 people had been killed and 93 had been rescued. Rescue efforts were hampered by smoke, pockets of gas and roof collapses in kilometres (miles) of tunnels nearly 300 metres (980 ft) below the surface. Women were shown on television weeping in the dark as they waited for news of relatives. President Vladimir Putin dispatched Emergency Minister Sergei Shoigu to oversee the rescue operation at the mine in Siberia's Kemerovo region and rescuers were drafted in from neighbouring areas to help. About 3,500 km (2,175 miles) east of Moscow, the mine is at the heart of Siberia's Kuznetsk basin, or Kuzbass, which has some of the biggest coal reserves in the world. MORGUE Rescuers with coal darkened faces could be seen emerging from the mine and scores of ambulances were on standby to treat those brought to the surface. Helicopters were being used to take bodies to the local morgue. Kemerovo governor Aman Tuleyev said that at the time of the blast, the pit's management was underground inspecting a new safety system installed by a British company. The Itar-Tass and RIA news agencies said the body of a British citizen had been found in the mine. No independent confirmation of the reports was immediately available. Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov called for tougher safety rules at coal mines, where accidents are common. The Kommersant daily newspaper said it was Russia's worst mining accident since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Russian miners say safety rules are frequently broken in coal mines, some of which date from Josef Stalin's mass industrialisation drive or even earlier. But the Ulyanovskaya mine was opened only four-and-a-half years ago and Tuleyev said the mine was fitted with modern equipment. The mine belongs to the Yuzhkuzbassugol company, in which Russia's second-biggest steelmaker Evraz holds a 50 percent stake. Yuzhkuzbassugol's management owns the other 50 percent and has operational control of the company. A spokesman for Yuzhkuzbassugol declined to comment. Evraz shares were little changed on the London Stock Exchange.
| AlertNet news is provided by |  |
