All news

Siberian miners lifted to surface after being trapped for 34 hours

At 01:45 Moscow time on Friday, rescuers accessed the miners via a 13-meter-long tunnel

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Three workers were lifted to surface on Friday after spending some 34 hours trapped underground in the Yesaulskaya mine in southwestern Siberia’s Kemerovo region, a source in the regional emergencies service told TASS.

"Three miners were lifted to surface. They are to meet their relatives soon," the source said.

The information about the incident at the Yesaulskaya coalmine in Novokuznetsk came at 3.10 p.m. Moscow time on Wednesday. Rock collapsed in the mine’s airway at a depth of 300 meters. There were 99 workers at the time of the cave-in, with 96 of them evacuated from the mine.

On Thursday, rescuers drilled three holes to bring down blankets, food and drinking water to the trapped miners.

At 01:45 Moscow time on Friday, rescuers accessed the trapped miners via a 13-meter-long tunnel.

In total, about 100 people took part in the rescue effort.

Coal production at the mine will resume at 8:00 Moscow time on Friday.