May 1, 2024

Athens News

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13 workers were trapped underground at a gold mine in the Amur region


Today (19/3) Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations reported that 13 workers were trapped at a gold mine in the Amur region after a rock collapse.

“Connection has been restored, the slope is being cleared with the help of equipment,” – the ministry said in a message on the Telegram application.

Russian President Vladimir Putin informed about workers trapped at a depth of 125 meters, and will take all measures to save them, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today. What is known:

  • After yesterday’s emergency, 13 people are still under the rubble. There is no contact with them yet, local authorities said;
  • according to preliminary data, there are no Amur residents among the miners, these are shift workers from other regions;
  • Contractor employees contact relatives of people in the mine. They are ready to provide all the necessary assistance, the regional government reported;
  • the situation is under special control of the governor of the Amur region Vasily Orlov. The causes of the emergency are not reported;
  • 25 mine rescuers from the Ministry of Emergency Situations and an additional group of 13 specialists from the Ministry of Emergency Situations from the Khabarovsk Territory arrived at the mine for search and rescue work.

The rescue operation is complicated by the huge amount of collapsed rock and groundwater, which is now being pumped out. How long it will take to reach people is still unknown. There is a chance that the miners are alive.

A criminal case has been opened, investigators are determining whether all safety requirements were met. It was previously reported that 15 people were under the rubble, but this was not confirmed. As Russian media report, the accident occurred at one of the largest gold mining enterprises in Russia, Pioneer. It is located in the Amur region of Eastern Siberia, on the southern border of Russia with China.

The mine is owned by London-listed Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk, which filed for receivership in 2022 after Western sanctions on Gazprombank, its main creditor and sole buyer of the gold, left the company unable to repay its debt. .

The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under an article on violation of safety requirements during work.

PS We won’t be surprised if the mine is nationalized after what happened.





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