MOSCOW, November 25. /TASS/. The total number of fatalities as a result of the Listvyazhnaya coalmine emergency in Russia’s Kuzbass has reached 52 people, including six mine rescuers, a source in the emergency services told TASS on Thursday.
"According to the preliminary data, there were no survivors in the coalmine. As many as 52 people were killed, including mine rescuers," the source said.
Furthermore, the director of the coalmine, as well as his first deputy, were detained in the context of a criminal proceeding on the death of 11 workers. As the Russian Investigative Committee told TASS, they will be charged in the near future and the investigation will petition for their arrest.
Deputy Prosecutor General Dmitry Demeshin noted that the Listvyazhnaya coalmine was likely to be caused by a methane explosion emergency. As the Emergencies Ministry stated, at the time of the incident, some 287 miners were under ground. Earlier, it was reported that 11 miners were killed and 35 more remain in coalmine. When searching for them, a group of rescuers also disappeared, three of them were found dead, while the fate of three others was unknown.