26 miners leave hospital

26 of the coal miners who had survived the accident at the Zapadnaya-Kapitalnaya mine have left hospital.

The miners remaining in hospital are in a satisfactory condition, reports the Russian emergencies ministry's headquarters dealing with the accident.

A rescuer who had been injured during a reconnaissance descent into the mine also left the hospital.

The accident took place on Thursday night when water from abandoned underground shafts streamed into the new shaft. 25 workers managed to climb to the surface on their own, 46 miners stayed in the shaft, which was nearly completely filled with water. At about 6.30 a.m. on Saturday, 33 miners got on for a radio contact and were retrieved.

13 persons remain trapped in the shaft. Rescuers have thus far failed to stop water inflow, Aleksandr Moskolets, Deputy Emergencies Minister, told reporters Monday.

Rescue workers have dug 35 metres of a tunnel from the neighbouring Komsomolskaya Pravda shaft towards the trapped miners, and they still have 18 metres to go, said the deputy minister. Experts say the rescuers have to cover the distance by midday, October 28.

The emergencies ministry's headquarters says there is some time left for the miners to be rescued.