Explosion in Russian coal mine kills at least 25

A methane gas explosion ripped through a Siberian coal mine Monday, killing at least 25 miners and sending rescuers scrambling to evacuate more than 100 left underground after the accident, government and emergency officials said.

At least five other miners were injured as a result of the blast at the Ulyanovskaya mine in the Kemerovo region, Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Alina Avyazova said.

The explosion occurred during the afternoon when 186 workers were underground in the mine, a spokesman for the region Emergency Situations Ministry Valery Korchagin said. He said 88 had been brought safely to the surface, and that rescuers were working to evacuate the rest.

The Kemerovo regional administration's press service said 25 miners were killed, reports AP.

Rescue workers were in contact with surviving miners underground, Avyazova said. It was not clear whether they were in immediate danger.