At least 18 miners have been killed after a blast struck a coal mine in the Komi region in Russia’s far north, the emergencies ministry has said. A total of 259 miners were working underground when the explosion, which was reportedly sparked by a buildup of methane, caused the mine in the city of Vorkutinskaya to collapse on Monday. Rescue workers have recovered 10 bodies at the mine, Vadim Kolesnikov, a duty officer at the Russian interior ministry, told the Associated Press news agency. There were 23 men in the mine at the time of the blast, the emergency ministry said. Two of them were able to get out of the mine on their own and three were rescued. Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov will personally go to the mine to oversee the rescue operation, Elena Smirnykh, a ministry spokeswoman, said. The families of the dead miners will receive $66,000 each, she told AFP. Some of the rescued workers were injured, said Smirnykh, adding that a plane was dispatched from Moscow to the mine to help hospitalise the miners. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev tasked his deputy Arkady Dvorkovich with the responsibility to provide assistance to families of the dead miners. Vorkutaugol spokesman Yevgeny Sukharev said the company paid “unprecedented attention” to safety standards. “Everyone is in shock,” he told AFP. According to the company’s website, in 2011 the Vorkutinskaya mine won a corporate award for “worthy working conditions – the basis for respect in the work force”.
