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Methane explosion occurs at coalmine in Kemerovo

Ninety people walked out to the surface on their own, information on the casualties is being ascertained

© ITAR-TASS/Denis Kozhevnikov

MOSCOW, January 22. /ITAR-TASS/. A methane explosion ripped through a coalmine in Russia’s Kemerovo Region, southwestern Siberia, 3,482 kilometres (2,164 miles) east of Moscow, on Wednesday, January 22, the Emergencies Ministry said.

“The explosion occurred at the Dzerzhinsky Mine in Prokopyevsk,” the ministry said.

Nine miners were working near the scene of the explosion when it occurred. Ninety people walked out to the surface on their own. “Information on the casualties is being ascertained,” he said.

“Each mine employee has a motion sensor. Of the 105 persons who were down at the time of the incident, 104 have their sensors working. According to preliminary information, one person’s sensor is not working,” the mine administration said.

Three units of rescuers are working at the scene of the incident. A crisis management committee has been set up. It is headed by Kemerogo Region Governor Aman Tuleyev.

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