Siberian gold mine collapse kills two

Two gold miners are dead and one is in critical condition after an underground gold mine near the Siberian city of Chelyabinsk partially collapsed.

Citing an industry watchdog and a report from Russian news agency TASS, state-owned RT said the incident occurred at the 700-metre level. More than 160 miners were evacuated at the Tsentralnaya mine known as “Central”, located about 1,800 kilometres from Moscow.

The injured worker, who was trapped beneath rubble, is currently being treated in emergency care having suffered two broken legs and numerous wounds.

According to RT, “[a]n emergency response team [was sent] to the scene to find out the cause of the collapse, and an investigation commission has been set up to look into the incident.” EBL News, a Youtube aggregation service, said a criminal case has been opened to examine a reported possible violation of labour protection rules.

RT also noted that a death at the mine occurs almost every year, with one person killed in a 2016 collapse, two miners dying in 2015, and one person killed in 2013.