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Another explosion has rocked a coal mine in Vorkuta, Russia, killing five people and injuring one , according to the emergency services. The blast occurred during efforts to rescue workers trapped when same mine collapsed earlier this week.
Five coal mine rescuers were killed in a new blast, emergency services spokesman told Interfax on Sunday.
A source in the emergency services told RIA Novosti earlier that six people had been killed and five injured.
There is a high risk of a “secondary explosion” at the mine, Russia’s emergency services said, as citied by TASS.
RT’s Roman Kosarev said that 26 miners were still missing from the first collapse on Thursday, citing emergency services.
All of the rescue workers have been evacuated from the mine due to the explosion, emergency services added.
Authorities had been warning that the second blast was possible.
Four people have been killed in the Severnaya coal mine, as a blast caused the mine to collapse on Thursday.
Rescue operations have been ongoing. Of the 110 people trapped under the rubble, 80 have been evacuated. At this point, there are 550 people and 80 pieces of equipment involved in the rescue effort, according to emergency services. Underground blasts remain a danger because of the high levels of methane in the mine, they said.
Making matters more difficult, is the mine’s location, which is beyond the Arctic Circle, making it difficult to reach. The stricken Severnaya coal mine belongs to Vorkuta, an integral part of the industrial giant Severstal.
Three days of mourning have been announced in the Komi Republic for the victims of the mine explosion. Cultural institutions, as well as radio and TV companies, have been recommended to cancel entertainment events and programs in the days of mourning, the government of the northern Russian republic has said in an order. Local government officials and the administration of the city of Vorkuta have been ordered to take all necessary measures to assist the families of the victims.
There is no chance for survival left for the remaining 26 miners trapped underground, Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov told media. “Data shows that there are high temperatures and no oxygen in that underground space where 26 miners were,” he said.
None of the 26 miners survived, the technical committee has announced. Either the access of oxygen to the mine will be blocked, or it will be flooded.
Flooding the mine or pumping out oxygen could take from two to six months.
Coal mine rescuers were operating at the normal safety distance, but the blast affected them even there. The hoisting engineer was killed by the explosion that spread across the workings. He was supplying materials to the site of rescue works, Tatiana Bushkova, spokesman for JSC Vorkutaugol, operator of the Severnaya coal mine, told TASS.
Courtesy of rt.com
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