MOSCOW, April 21 (RIA Novosti) – Nine miners have been trapped after a roof collapse at a coal mine in southwestern Siberia’s Kemerovo Region, a local emergencies spokesman said on Sunday.
“We have found the connection with the miners, according to preliminary information, all the miners are alive,” a police source said.
The accident occurred at the Zarechnaya mine in the town of Polysayevo at 17.15 Moscow time (13.15 GMT). A total of 127 people were working underground when the accident occurred. The rescue effort involves some 60 personnel.
Kemerovo is part of Russia’s major coal-producing Kuzbass region.
Mine safety conditions in Russia have often been a cause for concern. In 2010, a total of 91 workers died in twin methane gas explosions at a mine owned by the Raspadskaya company in the Kemerovo Region.
Most recently, four miners were killed in a flood at the Osinnikovskaya coal mine in the Kemerovo Region in late March.