Russian mine blast kills at least 25

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Russian mine blast kills at least 25

MOSCOW (Reuters) - At least 25 people were killed when a methane explosion ripped through a coal mine in Russia on Monday, emergency officials said on Monday.

About 100 miners remained underground several hours after the explosion, but there was no immediate indication of a cave-in or that they were trapped. Media quoted emergency services as saying the rescue was taking a long time because of smoke underground.

President Vladimir Putin ordered his Emergencies Minister to fly to the mine, in a remote part of Siberia's Kemerovo region, to oversee the rescue.

A spokeswoman for the Emergencies Ministry said 25 bodies had been brought up from the mine.

Russia's industrial safety regulator said 186 miners were in the Ulyanovskaya pit at the time of the blast. Rescue workers evacuated 86 and were trying to bring the rest to the surface.

Russian television pictures showed one miner lying motionless, his clothes black with dirt, as emergency workers transferred him into an ambulance.

The mine belongs to the Yuzhkuzbassugol company, in which Russia's second-biggest steelmaker, Yevraz, holds a 50 percent stake. The management owns the other 50 percent and has operational control of Yuzhkuzbassugol.

Fatal explosions caused by methane are not unusual in the Kemerovo coal basin, where many mines lack modern security equipment. A methane blast at a coal mine in the region last year killed two people.

The Web site of the Kemerovo regional council (www.ako.ru) said the Ulyanovskaya pit was opened in 2002 and was one of the most modern mines with up-to-date equipment.

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNew ... 0120070319