11 killed in Siberian mine collapse ( 2003-06-18 11:03) (Agencies)
An explosion collapsed the ceiling in one of central Siberia's oldest coal
mines, killing 11 miners and trapping four others, officials said Tuesday.
Three other miners crawled out after the blast, possibly touched off by
methane gas, rocked the Ziminka mine Monday in the town of Prokopyevsk, 1,850
miles east of Moscow, emergency officials said.
Two other miners were rescued and hospitalized, said Marina Ryklina, the
spokeswoman for the Emergency Situations Ministry. One miner was unaccounted
for, Russian television stations reported.
Intense rescue efforts went into a second night for the four trapped
miners, as relatives gathered near the mine shaft awaiting news, the Russian
media reported.
Anatoly Dyupin, the region's top fuel and energy sector official, said
rescuers were drilling a horizontal corridor to reach the trapped miners, and
were discussing the possibility of drilling vertically as well, the Interfax
news agency said.
Dyupin said the miners were in a 120 square-yard chamber and had
sufficient air. Rescuers were able to communicate with the miners, ITAR-Tass
said.
The Ziminka mine has been in operation since 1934 and is one of the
oldest in the Kemerovo coal basin, Russian media said.
Accidents are common in the coal industry. As of May, 33 miners had been
killed on the job in Russia this year, according to the Independent Coal Miners'
Union. It said 93 miners were killed in 2001 and 68 last
year.
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