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Quarry powder could explode at Urals mine - police

The authorities opened a criminal case on violation of safety requirements for mining, construction and other works

YEKATERINBURG, January 17. /TASS/. Breach of safety regulations could cause fire in the Yuzhnaya mine in the Sverdlovsk region, and then the fire could detonate an explosion of quarry powder, press service of the local police said.

“We believe the explosive substance was quarry powder. There is information that a miner received earlier 12 kilograms of the explosive.”

The rescue work is underway. The fire was extinguished at 2p.m. local time (12:00 Moscow time), and now specialists are clearing the air in the mine.

“Investigators say the area, where the tragedy occurred, is not big - just two by three metres,” the press service said.

In the emergency, the preliminary reports say, one person died, two got injured and there is still no information about two other minors. In the mine were 89 miners, and 86 of them were evacuated.

The authorities opened a criminal case on violation of safety requirements for mining, construction and other works.