SYKTYVKAR, March 18. /TASS/. All 55 coalminers of the Intaugol company’s mine in the Inta town in Russia’s northwestern Komi republic have been evacuated following a fire that started at a depth of 191 meters. No one was hurt, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry’s main department for the Komi republic told TASS on Friday.
"Today, on March 18 at 02:35, a duty officer of the paramilitary mine rescue unit reported a fire in the Intinskaya mine in Inta at a depth of around 191 meters. There were 55 miners underground at the moment. At 4:45 all of them were evacuated to the surface, no one was hurt," the statement says.
According to the Emergencies Ministry, the mine has been de-energized, and the ventilation is operating normally.
A total of 52 people and nine units of equipment, including from the Russian Emergencies Ministry are engaged in the emergency management efforts. The ministry’s Komi department has formed the response headquarters.
On February 25, a methane burst at the Severnaya coalmine in Vorkuta, also in the Komi republic, triggered two blasts and rock collapse followed by a fire. There were 111 coalminers underground at the time of the explosion at a depth of 780 meters, with 81 of them recovered to the surface. Four miners died and another nine were injured in the accident. The fate of 26 miners remained unknown and later they were reported. A third blast hit the mine early on February 28 during a search and rescue operation, killing six persons, including 5 rescuers. Another five persons were injured.
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