Dozens remain trapped in Russian mine after fire

Interfax news agency, citing a mine official, reported that the whereabouts of 75 miners was unknown. (Stock Image)

One person died and dozens were trapped after a fire in a coal mine in the Kemerovo region of Russia’s Siberia on Thursday, emergency services and local authorities said, with a rescue operation underway that had already saved more than 200 people.

There were 285 people in the Listvyazhnaya mine, Russia’s emergency services said, and 236 had been brought to the surface. The rescue operation was ongoing.

Regional Governor Sergei Tsivilev, writing on his Telegram channel, said one person had died and another 43 had been injured, two of whom were in a serious condition, news agencies reported.

“According to preliminary data, a number of workers suffered from smoke poisoning. The number of victims is being specified,” the regional branch of Russia’s Investigative Committee said in an earlier statement.

It had initially said 115 miners had been working at the time of the fire.

(By Anton Kolodyazhnyy, Gleb Stolyarov and Alexander Marrow; Editing by Stephen Coates)

Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *