At least 36 people have been killed after a series of explosions tore through a coal mine in Russia’s Arctic north.
That number includes four miners who were killed during an initial blast on Thursday, and twenty six who were trapped because of it; the latest explosions – believed to have been caused by methane gas leaks – also killed five rescuers and another miner as they attempted to reach the crew near the town of Vorkuta.
Coal mine blast in northern Russia kills 36 in 3 days, more explosions feared https://t.co/psJj6E3gem pic.twitter.com/Sb6h74Ue9q
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) February 28, 2016
A spokesperson for the mine’s operator Vorkutaugol said all rescue operations have been suspended in what’s become Russia’s latest mining disaster. Grimly, the firm’s technical director estimated that high gas levels and the raging fires within the mine meant everyone below the surface would have already died.
80 miners had been successfully rescued before the latest explosion occurred, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has already pledged to set up a special committee to look into the incident.
Source: New York Times / ABC.
Photo: Google Maps.
