Home>News Center>World
         
 

At least 40 dead in Russian mine blast
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-04-11 16:51

Russian rescuers on Sunday burrowed a tunnel from an adjacent mine in hopes of finding survivors of a blast that killed at least 40 coal miners in a Siberian shaft and left about 10 others missing underground.

The explosion ripped through the mine early Saturday, as miners who had worked through the night were nearing the end of their shift. The blast left a pile of rubble that blocked rescuers, forcing them to resort to a longer route to the epicenter through a neighboring mine.

Eight miners were rescued from the Taizhina mine on Saturday, said Valery Korchagin, an emergency department spokesman in the Kemerovo region of western Siberia. Four of the rescued miners were injured, and two of them were hospitalized with burns, he said.

Rescuers found the 29th body on Sunday, close to 24 hours after the blast, and 10 more bodies about six hours later, Korchagin said. About 10 miners remained missing. The bodies were very badly disfigured, making identification very difficult, Korchagin said.

As the nation celebrated Easter, the most important holiday for Russia's predominant Orthodox Christian faith, the trapped miners' fearful relatives gathered in the mine's administration building to await news. Russian state television showed brief pictures of a sobbing woman rushing away after apparently learning of a relative's death in the mine.

Kemerovo governor Aman Tuleyev, who was overseeing the rescue operation, said on Russian television that the shortest path to the blast site was blocked by what appeared to be impassable rubble, and the ITAR-Tass news agency said the roundabout path rescuers were trying to use stretched 5 kilometers (3 miles).

The missing miners were on the other side of the wall of rubble or under it, Korchagin said.

He said the rescuers were not using drills or blasting equipment, but confining themselves to working with shovels and crowbars to lift the earth gently out of the way. Working all day Saturday and into the night, they stopped their work occasionally for a minute of silence to allow them to hear any signs of life, ITAR-Tass reported.

The blast occurred at a depth of 560 meters (1,840 feet), and was believed to have been caused by a methane buildup, a duty officer at the Kemerovo regional emergency department said. The shaft was filled with carbon dioxide, the Interfax news agency reported.

A Russian government commission arrived early Sunday to investigate the cause of the blast.

Accidents are common in the Russian coal industry, and miners stage frequent protests over wage delays and declining safety standards. Local prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into negligence of safety standards at the Taizhina mine, state television reported.

In September 2002, one miner at Taizhina was killed and two were seriously injured when the roof of a ventilation shaft collapsed during reconstruction work, showering them with rocks.

According to ITAR-Tass, more than 600 miners work at the mine in the city of Osinniki, about 3,000 kilometers (1,850 miles) east of Moscow in western Siberia's coal-rich Kuzbass area. It is a new mine, opened in 1998, but it was built on the foundation of a closed mine and the equipment shown on Russian television stations appeared to be run-down.

A methane explosion killed five miners at a mine in the Kemerovo region in January, and an investigation indicated a methane blast _ possibly sparked by a short circuit _ caused a ceiling collapse that killed 12 workers at another mine in the region last June.

In October, icy water flooded a mine in southern Russia, killing two men. Rescuers freed 69 others.

 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

Personal cheques to flourish in China

 

   
 

Likely Sino-Indian FTA conducive to nation

 

   
 

Big rally demands inquiry into shooting

 

   
 

Japan denies report of hostages release

 

   
 

Bush warned of al-Qaida plot before 9/11

 

   
 

Pressure on students causes social problems

 

   
  At least 40 dead in Russian mine blast
   
  Arabic TV station airs images of two Americans killed in Iraq
   
  Bird flu found at two more Canadian farms
   
  Iraq insurgents threaten to kill American
   
  Police make arrest in NYC hospital rape
   
  Japan denies report of hostages release
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  News Talk  
  April Fool's!  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 99re热视频精品首页| 久久精品aⅴ无码中文字字幕重口 久久精品aⅴ无码中文字字幕重口 | 亚洲国产成人精品无码一区二区| 窝窝午夜看片成人精品| 国产AV无码专区亚洲AV琪琪| 高清在线精品一区二区| 国产真人无遮挡作爱免费视频 | 国产人妖XXXX做受视频| 欧美精品无需播放器在线观看 | 欧美多人野外伦交| 亚洲精品tv久久久久久久久| 皇后羞辱打开双腿调教h孕| 四虎4hutv永久在线影院| 视频一区视频二区在线观看| 国产成人精品AA毛片| 67194久久| 国产精品午夜小视频观看| 91欧美在线视频| 在线观看xxx| av无码免费永久在线观看| 妖精的尾巴国语版全集在线观看| 中文全彩漫画爆乳| 成年片人免费www| 久久久久人妻一区精品色| 日韩一区二区三区免费体验| 九九精品视频在线观看| 最近中文字幕的在线mv视频| 亚洲av永久无码精品古装片 | 亚洲精品乱码久久久久久下载| 特黄AAAAAAAAA毛片免费视频| 免费A级毛片AV无码| 直接观看黄网站免费视频| 内射少妇一区27P| 精品久久久久久久中文字幕 | 亚洲色图第1页| 男女一级毛片免费播放| 先锋影音男人资源| 男人桶女人视频不要下载| 偷窥欧美wc经典tv| 狠狠噜天天噜日日噜视频麻豆| 交换配乱淫粗大东北大坑性事|