Twenty-eight killed in Siberian mine blast UPDATE |
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Thu, 24 May 2007 09:51
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NOVOKUZNETSK, Russia (Thomson Financial) - A gas explosion ripped through a Siberian mine on Thursday, killing at least 28 people in the latest in a grim catalogue of Russian mining disasters.It comes just weeks after a gas explosion in Ulyanovskaya, a nearby mine owned by the same company, Yuzhkuzbassugol, killed 110 people in the worst Russian mining accident in decades.'Twenty-eight people died and 11 others are missing,' a spokeswoman for Russia's emergency situations ministry told AFP following the blast.She said 178 miners had been rescued, of whom six were injured.The methane gas explosion happened during the morning shift at the Yubileinaya mine near the city of Novokuznetsk in west Siberia's Kemerovo region while 217 miners were below ground, officials said.A spokesman for the mine owner contacted by AFP declined to comment.Yuzhkuzbassugol, which owns 20 mines in the region, is 50 percent owned by metals and mining giant Evraz Group, in which Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich holds a 41 percent stake.The company came under heavy criticism from inspectors after the Ulyanovskaya blast for allowing 'serious breaches' in safety controls on several of its mines.An official for Russia's industrial safety agency, Rostekhnadzor, was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying that the reasons for the blast were being investigated and that the company could now lose its licence.'Such a decision could be taken after an inquiry into all the circumstances of the accident at the Yubileinaya mine. Particularly since we have already found violations at Yuzhkuzbassugol mines,' the official said.tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.comafp/am/icCOPYRIGHTCopyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.
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Russian mine blast kills 10 