© Vorkutaugol
At least four miners were killed after a structural collapse at a coal mine in northern Russia, and the rescue operation was further complicated by a second explosion when emergency workers were trying to reach dozens of miners trapped underground, officials and media reports said Friday.
About 110 coal miners were underground at the "Severnaya" coal mine — operated by the Vorkutaugol company in the northern region of Komi — when a seismic jolt caused part of the structure to collapse on Thursday, the regional branch of the Emergency Situations Ministry said in a statement. Shortly before midnight, 80 of the miners had been rescued, the ministry said. Eight of them had suffered injuries.
Rescuers have also recovered the bodies of four more miners, while 26 others were listed as missing as of Friday afternoon, according to Russian media reports.
About an hour after the initial jolt, when attempts to evacuate workers were already underway, the mine suffered a second "explosion," Vorkutaugol technical director Igor Paykin said, the Interfax news agency reported Friday.
The second blast caused additional structural collapses in the mine, stoked a fire, and caused clouds of smoke to fill the mine shaft, Paykin was quoted as saying.
"It appears impossible to extinguish it [the fire] through ordinary methods," he said, Interfax reported. "We will look into the option of temporarily isolating the combustion section."
Comment: According to Vorkutaugol, the mine's owner, a methane explosion was responsible for the tragedy. The company said: