Europe

Methane blast at Siberian mine kills 28

(AP)
Updated: 2007-05-24 16:10

MOSCOW - A methane explosion tore through a coal mine in southern Siberia, killing 28 people and prompting a search for 11 missing miners, emergency officials said.

The death toll from a methane blast at a Siberian coal mine on Thursday has risen to 16, a spokesman for Russia's Emergencies Ministry said. [Reuters]

Some 180 miners were safely brought to the surface soon after the blast in Novokuznetsk, Irina Andrianova, spokeswoman for the Emergency Situations Ministry, said in televised comments. She said six of those rescued were injured, and officials were searching for 11 workers still missing.

Valery Korchagin, an official with the ministry's regional branch, said 217 people were working in the Yubileinaya mine, including 28 who were in the immediate vicinity of the blast.

An explosion at another mine in the region in March killed 110 people. That was the deadliest accident in more than 60 years in Russia's mines.

Both accidents occurred at mines operated by Yuzhkuzbassugol, a subsidiary of coal and steel producer Evraz SA, and Russian industrial safety officials said Thursday that the company's license may be revoked.

Novokuznetsk is some 1,850 miles east of Moscow.