Rescuers have reached one of the three miners trapped underground as a result of a landslide that occurred at a coal mine in Russia’s republic of Komi on Saturday, emergencies services said.
“Rescuers are currently carrying the miner up to the surface,” the emergencies services said.
The local emergencies services said on its website that the landslide occurred as a result of a rock bump. A ventilation shaft at the mine has not been damaged, the statement said.
All mining operations at Severnaya have been stopped. Twenty rescuers and a firefighting unit are working at the site.
The Severnaya mine is operated by Vorkutaugol, one of the largest mining companies operating in the Pechorsky Coal Basin, Russia’s second largest after Kuzbass. The company is owned by Severstal, one of the biggest steel holdings in Russia, through its subsidiary Severstal-Resurs.