Siberian coal mine toll reaches 30,as 60 are still missing

The explosions,one of which occurred on Saturday evening and the other last morning,took place in ‘Raspadskaya’ coal mine in the Siberian region of Kemerovo,about 3,500 kilometres east of Moscow.

The toll rose after bodies of 18 people,most of them rescuers were recovered from the mine. They included bodies of 17 rescuers,who had gone inside the mine after the first blast,but were themselves trapped inside.

Bodies of 12 miners had been recovered yesterday.

Shoigu said that rescue workers brought in Mezhdurechnisk from other coal mining regions of Russia had around 48 hours to save two groups of people,including some of their colleagues who went in after the initial blast,trapped underground at two separate points in the mine.

“Of all the locations and places where miners and rescue workers were working,two of these remain critical,because the drainage system there has been destroyed,” Shoigu was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.

He added that there was no way of lowering water levels in these areas,and high levels of methane gas have raised fears of further explosions and hindered rescue efforts.

Reports said six people are in one location and seven in another and that they could only be reached via shafts.

Investigators also said that 17 bodies,believed to be those of rescue workers,had already been brought to the surface.