Blast rocks mine in Siberian Khakasia: Two miners killed

Rescuers have found the bodies of two miners killed in an explosion in the Severnaya mine in Russia’s Siberian Republic of Khakasia early on Wednesday, sources from the regional centre of the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations have reported.

The fire triggered by the blast in a storage room for explosives has been localized, the sources said. There were five miners in the storage room where detonators ignited spontaneously. Three people managed to rush out of the room and close the door. Two miners remaining in the room were killed.

The blast occurred at 9 am, local time at the depth of 200 meters. According to immediate reports, 300 kilograms of explosives detonated, a spokeswoman for the regional centre, Svetlana Potekhina, said. The fire from detonators spread to cases with explosives, she added Thirty-nine miners were evacuated unhurt, Itar-Tass reported.