11 were killed and dozens missing after a fire accident in a Siberian coal mine, officials announced on Thursday.
The mine, near the village of Gramoteino in the Kemerovo region, was filled with smoke in the early hours of Thursday with 285 people inside.
Hence, the officials affirmed that the search and rescue team had to be called off due to the threat of an explosion at the Listvyazhnaya mine.
In addition, local governor Sergei Tsivilev stated that many were able to evacuate, but at least 11 died and 46 people were still underground.
In a video on Telegram, Tsivilev mentioned that there was "no communication" with the trapped miners and that a search mission had been launched.
He later noted the operation had to be called off due to a dangerous concentration of methane in the mine and the "high likelihood of an explosion".
"Work will resume as soon as the gas concentration decreases to a safe level," Tsivilev said, pointing out that 49 people were in the hospital with injuries, some in critical condition.
In the same vein, local investigators revealed that smoke spread across the Siberian mine at around 8:35 am local time (0135 GMT) and that "a number of workers suffered smoke poisoning".
A source in the emergency services told state news agency TASS that dust in a ventilation shaft caught fire, causing the mine to fill with smoke.
Meantime, village residents gathered in snowfall and sub-zero temperatures outside the entrance to the mine, which was closed off with a boom gate, as ambulances passed in and out of the site.
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