5 meters of the tunnel left to dig for rescuers to reach 4 miners in Ziminka mine in Siberia

The press service of the Russian Ministry of Emergencies reported to RIA Novosti that rescuers had to dig for 5 more meters to reach 4 miners cut off by fallen rock in the Ziminka mine in Prokopievsk.

By 17.30 Moscow time 8 meters of the main tunnel were cleared out.

At the same time works are carried out in a by-pass tunnel: there 9 meters were negotiated with 13 meters left, according to the Emergencies Ministry.

The decision to dig a tunnel to bypass the obstruction was taken due to strong earth movements which made it dangerous to clear the obstruction in the main tunnel.

On Monday methane exploded in the Ziminka mine in Prokopievsk (Kemerovo region, southern Siberia) which resulted in collapse of the hanging wall. 11 miners were killed, two were hospitalized. One person is missing.

4 miners, Viktor Glushenkov, Aleksander Moshkin, Sergei Kononov and Aleksei Ryabov were cut off by the obstruction. The press service of the ministry reported that telephone and voice communications were set up with the miners.

86 people and 13 pieces of equipment are engaged in rescue operations.

Aman Tuleyev, governor of the Kemerovo region, is at the accident site.