3 Russian Miners Rescued; 43 Others Alive
Three of 46 miners trapped in a flooded mine shaft in southern Russia were brought to the surface on Saturday and rescue workers said the others were still alive.
The miners were working some 2,625 feet underground Thursday when water from a subterranean lake leaked into a shaft above them, blocking their way to the surface, according to Col. Viktor Shkareda, head of the regional emergency department.
A two-person rescue team that had descended into the mine reached the pitface where the miners were trapped and said they were all alive.
Three were brought to the surface Saturday morning. One of them was reported in serious condition and was hospitalized, rescue workers said.
Rescue officials said they planned to use a small cage to bring the rest of the miners up in groups of two or three.
Seventy-one miners were working in the Zapadnaya mine in the Rostov-on-Don region, about 600 miles south of Moscow, when the accident happened, Shkareda said. He said 25 miners managed to escape to other pits and reach the surface after the leak filled several shafts.
Electricity in the mine was shut off, and the miners have low batteries and no food, Shkareda said.
Trucks were dumping earth and rocks into the mine in an attempt to plug the leak while rescuers carved tunnels from adjacent mines.
Regional governor Vladimir Chub said that the teams were unable to use heavy equipment and the manual labor to dig the tunnels could take up to 48 hours, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
The trapped miners have little air, and the rescue teams were trying to make special ventilation shafts.
ITAR-Tass said it was the second such accident at the Zapadnaya mine this year. Water flooded the mine in February, but nobody was inside at the time, according to the news agency.
Accidents are common in the Russian coal industry, and miners stage frequent protests over wage delays and declining safety standards. According to the Independent Coal Miners’ Union, 68 miners were killed on the job last year and 98 in 2001.