By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Mezhdurechensk (Russia) : The search for 24 missing miners in a coalmine in West Siberia was Thursday temporarily halted due to threat of more explosions, officials said.
At least 66 miners were killed when two blasts ripped through the Raspadskaya coalmine last week. Twenty-four workers are still missing.
“Search work has been suspended. Our goal is to extinguish fires and lower gas concentration levels, and only then can we send people in,” said Pavel Plat, chief military expert of the Emergency Situations Ministry.
A spokesman for the local administration said rescuers have found six more bodies in the mine, bringing the toll to 66.
Forty-eight bodies were identified by family members. Plat said several fires have been registered at the mine, some of them “quite large”.
“Unfortunately, the situation has worsened. Gas concentrations have increased in some areas,” he said, adding that it was unclear when rescue efforts would resume.
The cause of the blasts is still being investigated.