Blast hits Russia’s largest coal mine, 2 workers killed, 4 injured

Blast hits Russia’s largest coal mine, 2 dead

MOSCOW — A methane explosion tore through Russia’s largest underground coal mine on Saturday, killing two workers and injuring four others, a regional emergency services official said.

Of the 312 miners who were below ground at the time of the blast, 142 remained about three hours after the explosion and rescue workers were laboring to extract them, said Valery Korchagin, a spokesman for the Emergencies Ministry in the west Siberian region of Kemerovo.

The rest have been brought to the surface, including the two dead, he said.

The mine, the Raspadskaya, produces about 8 million tons (8.8 million short tons) of coal a year, according to the company’s website.

The Kemerovo region is about 300 kilometers (190 miles) east of Moscow.