52 people have died after the explosion of a coal mine in Siberia. According to the rescue teams, there is no longer any hope of finding survivors among the people stranded underground. Another 239 illuminators were rescued in the past few hours, including 49 hospitalized. The accident took place this morning, Thursday 25 November, in the Listvyazhnaya mine, in the heart of Russia. Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences for the victims of the “tragedy”. And it is not the first time that fatal accidents in mines have occurred in the country.
The explosion in the mine in Siberia
The explosion occurred at a depth of 250 meters. The dynamics are not yet clear, but according to investigators the smoke spread through the mine around 8.35am. A source in the emergency services heard by the Russian state agency Tass said the tragedy may have been caused by coal dust that allegedly caught fire in a ventilation shaft. Rescuers had immediately left, but in the early afternoon the mine administration had made it known that “all rescuers” had been “urgently evacuated” for fear that “the concentration of gas” could cause an explosion. Then in the evening the toll arrived: 52 people – including six rescuers – died, “no one remained alive” among those who were stuck underground. Serghiei Tsivilyov, governor of the Kemerovo region, announced three days of mourning.
In Russia several serious accidents
The incident shook Russia. Coal mines in the country are considered extremely dangerous: due to violations of safety procedures, serious accidents frequently occur, often explosions caused by methane, highly flammable gas that is released during mining operations and accumulates in tunnels if ventilation it is not adequate. Obsolete equipment is also being blamed. One of the most serious disasters dates back to 2010, when an explosion killed 91 people in the Raspadskaya mine, the largest in Russia. In 2007 another explosion killed 110 people in the Ulyanovkskaya mine. “When people die, it is a great tragedy for families and all relatives,” said President Vladimir Putin.
Source-tg24.sky.it