Explosion at a mine in Maritime Territory brings casualties

Four people died and four were gravely injured during an explosion at the Tsentralnaya mine in the Maritime Territory (the Far-Eastern federal district), head of the city health department of the town of Partizansk Galina Pautova said.

According to her, 15 people were evacuated from the mine, four of them having been taken to one of the city's hospitals. The physicians assess the condition of two of the injured as very grave, Pautova noted.

According to the data of the dispatch-office of the Tsentralnaya mine, 64 miners but not 70 as it was reported before were in the mine during the blast.

The rescue work is going on in the mine. Ambulances have been brought to it. The causes of the explosion are being established.