KEMEROVO, January 21 (Itar-Tass) — Specialists have established the cause of the death of four miners killed in a methane explosion at a mine in Russia’s Kemerovo region on Sunday, senior aide to the head of the investigation department of the Russian Investigative Committee Nadezhda Ananyeva said on Monday.
“The cause of their deaths was established during an expertise. According to early reports, a 45-year-old miner died of head and body injuries and three other miners, aged 27, 28 and 37, died of carbon monoxide poisoning,” she said.
Seventy-seven people were working underground when smoke started spreading in Kemerovo’s mine 7 at 02:15 Moscow time on Sunday. Sixty-nine miners were evacuated to the surface. Four people were killed and the fate of four others is still unclear.
Rescuers searching the missing miners have been taken to the surface because of a dangerous concentration of methane. In order to reduce the concentration of dangerous gas, it was decided to flood the emergency section with the exception of the site where the miners can be. According to preliminary assessments, about 5,000 cubic meters of water will be needed. The search-and-rescue operation will continue only after that.