MOSCOW, February 20. /TASS/. Shares of Norilsk Nickel fell by 3.9% to 27.30 rubles per share in the course of trading on the Moscow Exchange on Saturday. That is according to the data of the trading floor at 1:49 pm Moscow time.

As of 2:02 pm Moscow time, the shares plunged by 3.6% to around 27,100 rubles per share.

The share price dipped following a statement the president of Norilsk Nickel, Vladimir Potanin, made about the causes of the crushing shop gallery at the company’s plant.

The accident at the plant in Norilsk occurred due to a gross violation of safety procedures, Potanin noted. The plant manager has been suspended from duty, he added.

The report on partial collapse of the crushing shop gallery at the plant was received at about 04.00 am local time. Eight individuals were indoors at that time. The collapse area was about 1,000 square meters. The Russian mining and metals producer plans to invest about 100 bln rubles ($1.4 bln) into industrial safety during the five years to come, the company’s president said.