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Rescuers died at Siberian mine from high concentration of carbon monoxide — minister

Chupriyan explained that carbon monoxide penetrates even through the skin

MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/. Carbon monoxide caused the death of mine rescuers at the Listvyazhnaya mine, which was rocked by an explosion, Russia’s Acting Emergencies Minister Alexander Chupriyan said on the YouTube channel Soloviov Live on Saturday.

"Why did they (the rescuers - TASS) die? I can convey the opinion of specialists: because the concentration of carbon monoxide had increased sharply, but that can only be seen with the help of a device," he said.

Chupriyan explained that carbon monoxide penetrates even through the skin.

"The body is poisoned, and people were falling," the emergencies minister said.

A fire at the Listvyazhnaya mine in Kuzbass’ Belovo region was reported on Thursday morning. According to the Emergencies Ministry, 285 miners were trapped underground at the time of the accident. A total of 239 people were evacuated from the mine. A total of 51 people have died, including five rescuers. According to the Russian Health Ministry, 60 injured people are receiving medical treatment in hospitals and twelve more at outpatient clinics.

Two criminal cases have been opened into violations of industrial safety and negligence, which resulted in the death of miners. Five suspects - the mine director, his deputy, the disaster area supervisor, along with two safety inspectors - were arrested and face charges.

Set up in October 2003 on the basis of the Inskaya coalmine in the Kemerovo region, Listvyazhnaya is part of SDS-Ugol, one of Russia’s biggest coalmining companies.