More than 40 miners were still underground more than 10 hours after the blast as rescue work was slowed by thick smoke and roof collapses in horizontal shafts that stretched for up to 5km,Reuters reported.
The Ulyanovskaya longwall mine is near the city of Novokuznetsk, about 2950km east of Moscow.
A spokesman for the Kemerovo region said at the time of the blast, 200 people were underground. With 78 people now confirmed dead, 75 have been safely evacuated, leaving 47 miners still trapped.
“The rescue operation is continuing but it is being made difficult by thick smoke and the continued presence of gas in the mine,” the spokesman said.
Kemerovo Governor Aman Tuleyev reportedly told a television station that the mine’s management team was underground at the time of the blast, inspecting a new safety system installed by a British company.
It is believed the body of a British citizen, a contractor at the mine, has also been recovered.
The Ulyanovskaya mine began operating in October 2002, which means its equipment and facilities are relatively new by Russia’s mining industry standards, where outdated safety and mining equipment lead to regular fatal accidents.
The mine belongs to the Yuzhkuzbassugol company (50%), in which Russia’s second-biggest steelmaker, Evraz, holds the remaining 50% stake, Reuters reported.
