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: 欧美大香线蕉线伊人久久| 伊人久久大香网| 国产真实乱了全集mp4| 国产在线精品一区二区在线看 | 热久久这里是精品6免费观看| 欧美人与牲动交xxxxbbbb| 色婷婷精品大在线视频| 狠狠色噜噜狠狠狠狠97俺也去| 欧美一级视频在线观看| 无码一区二区三区亚洲人妻| 在线你懂的网站| 国产好爽…又高潮了毛片| 免费又黄又爽的视频| 国产福利91精品一区二区三区| 国产午夜精品福利| 偷拍激情视频一区二区三区| 亚洲av乱码一区二区三区香蕉| 亚洲免费在线看| 中文字幕第5页| 3d性欧美动漫精品xxxx| 色多多成视频人在线观看| 污污视频在线观看免费| 日本videos18高清hd下| 国产精品露脸国语对白河北| 四虎影视永久免费观看| 亚洲国产精品成人午夜在线观看| 中文字幕一区二区三区久久网站| 窝窝午夜看片国产精品人体宴| 精品无码中文视频在线观看| 欧美xxxxx在线观看| 女人是男人未来1分50秒| 国产又粗又猛又爽视频| 亚洲欧美日韩三级| 中文www新版资源在线| 久久亚洲最大成人网4438| 玉蒲团之偷情宝鉴电影| 无码任你躁久久久久久久| 国产精品久久国产精品99| 免费一级毛片在线播放| 久久亚洲国产成人精品无码区| 手机在线看片国产|