Civil defense forces brought the last corpse from the “Listwjaschnaja” shaft to the surface in western Siberia, as the governor of the Kemerovo region, Sergei Zwiljow, announced on Monday. The salvage work is now complete. An injured person is still being treated in the hospital. After a methane gas explosion, 46 miners and five emergency services who wanted to save the men died in the coal mine at the end of November. Because of the danger of new explosions, the rescue work had dragged on. It was the worst mining accident in Russia for more than ten years. More than 100 people were injured in the explosion.
The authorities have issued five arrest warrants against those responsible for mine management and the supervisory authorities for violations of safety regulations in the mine in Belovo, around 3,000 kilometers east of Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin had criticized the “greed for profit” in the mining industry, which put people at deadly risk. He called for changes.
When working in mining, the highly flammable mine gas methane is released, which, if there is poor ventilation, collects in the shafts underground. The work in the famous Kuznetsk coal basin – Kuzbass – is considered to be life-threatening.
Source: Nachrichten
