“Methane Had Been Off the Charts for Ages”: 52 Killed in Russian Mine Blast a Week After Main Inspection

Mine management and later technical supervision inspectors were detained.

In Russia, overnight on November 26, more than 50 people were killed at the Listvyazhnaya mine in the Kemerovo Region, reports the Russian BBC.

Among the victims are miners and rescuers. Russian authorities have acknowledged that the smoke that led to the deaths was allegedly caused by a methane explosion, but a “special commission” will make the final conclusions.

At the same time, the mine’s management was immediately detained, and a three-day mourning period was declared in the region.

In the morning, a survivor was found. He turned out to be a rescue medic who had gone missing the previous day during the search operation for miners. Inside the mine, he had been providing first aid to the injured. He was diagnosed with hypothermia, carbon monoxide poisoning and dehydration, the hospital said.

Victims and injured

The total death toll has risen to 52. This includes 46 miners who could not be brought to the surface the previous day, and six rescuers who took part in the search for them. The previous day, it was reported that two rescue teams had gone missing during the search. Now, five rescuers are reported dead. 

It is known that the dead suffocated from gas. By morning, the number of injured in the Listvyazhnaya accident had risen to 63. Most of the hospitalized miners are in light or moderate condition.

On the morning of November 25, when the accident occurred at the mine, there were 285 people underground.

Methane Explosion

The preliminary cause of the mine accident announced was “an explosion of a methane-air mixture due to violations of industrial safety requirements,” but a special commission will determine the exact causes.

“During the initial investigative actions, it was established that the detained persons committed violations of industrial safety requirements for hazardous production facilities. As a result, a gas-dynamic phenomenon occurred. Smoke began to spread in the ventilation drift of section No. 4, as a result of which the workers in the excavation suffocated,” the Investigative Committee said.

First Detainees

The detainees mentioned in the Investigative Committee’s statement are the 47-year-old mine director, his 59-year-old first deputy, and the 36-year-old section head.

They were detained within a case of “violating industrial safety requirements for hazardous production facilities, resulting through negligence in the death of two or more persons.”

It is stated that they will be charged in the near future.

The detained director of the Listvyazhnaya mine is Sergei Makhrakov, who has headed the enterprise since 2013. In 2021 he was named the “best coal mine manager” following a regional competition, according to a message on the website of SDS-Ugol, the company to which Listvyazhnaya belongs.

On Friday morning, the Investigative Committee reported opening another case for “negligence resulting through carelessness in the death of two or more persons.” Two chief state technical supervision inspectors were detained under it. It became known that they had carried out an inspection at the mine just one week earlier.

What is happening now

The search was suspended the previous day due to severe gas contamination in the mine.

Rescuers are isolating the section of mine workings that “will naturally fill with methane.” Once the gas distributes across this section (it is large, 257 thousand cubic meters), the risk of explosion will decrease.

By their estimate, such “degassing” will take three days. After that, the headquarters will decide on further search operations in the mine.

“That methane had been off the charts there for ages!”

On Friday morning, relatives of the dead miners came to the checkpoint of the Listvyazhnaya mine, and some of them are being allowed onto the mine’s territory.

The wife of one of the miners told a BBC correspondent that, according to her information, a fire had already broken out at the mine on November 15, which the miners extinguished themselves. According to her version, the cause of the fire at that time was also excess methane content. Afterward, the miners went back down into the mine.

“They didn’t lose their nerve and put out the fire in the mine themselves, with their own forces. Just a few days passed, and now my husband is gone. And everyone knew about it. Rospotrebnadzor kept inspecting. And what were they inspecting? That methane had been off the charts there for ages!” the woman says.