Translated material
Deadly record
A major disaster occurred at the Ulyanovskaya mine
In the Kemerovo region yesterday afternoon, the largest mine accident in modern Russian history in terms of the number of victims occurred. At about 14.30 in the city of Novokuznetsk, as a result of a methane explosion in the Ulyanovskaya mine, about 200 miners were trapped underground, including almost the entire management of the enterprise, which, as usual on Mondays, carried out a routine inspection of the sites. Within just a few hours of the rescue operation, which involved the forces of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and mine rescuers from almost all over the country, it became clear that, without exaggeration, the largest disaster in the domestic coal industry had occurred at Ulyanovskaya. By evening, the bodies of 74 dead miners had already been brought to the surface. According to the latest data, only 83 people were saved, many of whom were seriously injured. The fate of about 50 more miners who remained behind the rubble remained unknown.This emergency turned out to be all the more unpleasant because the Ulyanovskaya mine until recently was considered one of the most modern enterprises in the country's coal mining industry. It was put into operation in October 2002, and local authorities timed this event specifically to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Vladimir Putin. The governor of the Kemerovo region, Aman Tuleyev, even sent a congratulatory telegram to the president with a mention of Ulyanovskaya.
What caused the tragedy was still unclear yesterday. By evening, experts were able to put forward only two most likely versions. According to one, the accident occurred due to a methane explosion in the northern drift of the mine during coal production. According to another, first there was a release of coal dust, a rock collapse, and only after that there was a release and explosion of gas.
According to the regional administration of Kuzbass, an explosion on the Sever track slope of seam No. 50 of the Ulyanovskaya mine at the Erunakovskoye coal deposit in the Novokuznetsk region occurred at 14.30. As Vremya Novostei was told by the mine's board, almost the entire management team of the site went to the mine face in the morning. “On Mondays, mine managers went down to the face to inspect areas of the enterprise. This time, the chief engineer, the site manager, and the chief mechanic were in the mine; they worked on an equal basis with ordinary miners,” the department noted. As it turned out, in the morning, only the chief power engineer and the deputy director for safety did not go down to the mine in working mode for various reasons. They were the first to learn about the emergency, waited for the mine rescuers and then went with them to search for their colleagues.
At first, conflicting information was received about the number of miners blocked by the ground. Only late in the evening did it become clear that at the time of the emergency, 200 day shift people were in the conveyor drift of the tunneling section of the mine. According to the calculations of mine rescuers, the epicenter of the explosion was at a depth of 250 meters, and the explosion caused extensive collapses in mine workings in several places at once.
By evening, the bodies of 74 dead miners were pulled out from under the rubble and raised to the surface; 83 miners managed to get to the surface alive. According to those already rescued, more than 30 of their comrades remained under the rubble.
Work in the emergency section of the mine was carried out manually - due to the strong gas contamination of the adit, rescuers were afraid to use equipment. Almost immediately, the ventilation systems were established, which facilitated rescue efforts. But the power supply disrupted by the explosion was restored only in the evening.
In total, the rescue operation involved 14 teams of rescuers and soldiers of the paramilitary mine rescue units (VMSCh) from all regions of Kuzbass, 12 rescuers from Krasnoyarsk, 38 mine rescuers from the rapid response unit of the paramilitary mine rescue unit from Novomoskovsk, Tula region. More than two dozen ambulances were called to the mine site. Doctors recorded traumatic brain injuries, fractures and poisoning in almost all the dead and injured people brought to the surface.
The work of clearing the rubble, searching for miners and lifting the bodies of the dead continued until late yesterday, but rescuers could not predict when they would get everyone - alive or dead.
Together with the mine rescue teams, one of the first to arrive at the scene of the accident was the governor of the region, Aman Tuleyev (pictured) , who headed the headquarters for organizing rescue operations. The head of the Siberian regional center of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, Alexander Glazunov, and the deputy head of Rostechnadzor, Nikolai Kutin, also arrived in Novokuznetsk. Already at night in Novokuznetsk they were expecting the arrival of the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Sergei Shoigu. It was planned to deliver EMERCOM psychologists to the Kemerovo region on the same special flight.
At first, rescuers working underground said that the most likely cause of the accident was a methane explosion. Experts suggested that the miners ended up in an underground “pocket” where gas had accumulated. However, by the evening, the operational headquarters put forward several more versions of the emergency - there was an explosion of coal dust in the mine, the release of which occurred in the tunneling section, or the miners were covered by a rock collapse, which resulted in the squeezing out and explosion of methane.
Almost immediately, a special commission was created to investigate the emergency, and the district prosecutor's office opened a criminal case under Art. 216 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of safety rules during mining, construction or other work, resulting in the death of two or more persons through negligence). However, their representatives yesterday avoided commenting. An official statement was made only by Governor Tuleyev, who stated that a methane explosion occurred at the mine, as a result of which part of the coal workings was destroyed. He emphasized that rescue work will be carried out around the clock, and the families of the dead miners will be paid 1 million rubles.
The OJSC United Coal Company Yuzhkuzbassugol, which is the owner of the Ulyanovskaya mine, stated that there were no deviations in the technological process at the mine. According to the Kuzbass administration, the Ulyanovskaya mine is one of the newest coal mining enterprises in the region. The mine was put into operation in October 2002. It is equipped with the most modern equipment. Before the accident, 6 thousand tons of valuable coking coal were mined daily at Ulyanovskaya; its capacity was equal to ten ordinary mines. The Ulyanovskaya staff is almost a thousand people.
Major accidents in Russian mines
On December 2, 1997, a methane explosion at the Zyryanovskaya mine near Novokuznetsk killed 67 miners.
On January 18, 1998, a methane explosion occurred in the Tsentralnaya mine in Vorkuta. 27 dead.
On March 21, 2000, during the liquidation of an accident at the Komsomolets mine in Leninsk-Kuznetsky, a methane explosion occurred. 12 mine rescuers were killed.
On June 16, 2003, a methane explosion occurred at the Ziminka mine in the Kemerovo region. 12 miners died.
On October 23-29, 2003, as a result of a breakthrough in an underground lake in the city of Novoshakhtinsk, Rostov region, the Zapadnaya-Kapitalnaya mine was flooded, and 71 miners were trapped at a depth of 700 meters. The operation to rescue them lasted almost a week, 69 people were rescued. On the day they were brought to the surface, another major accident occurred in the Primorsky Territory, in the city of Partizansk. There, due to a methane explosion at a depth of 700 meters in a coal mine, 71 miners were again trapped. Five of them died, ten were hospitalized.
On April 10, 2004, there was an accident at the Taizhina mine in the city of Osinniki, Kemerovo region. As a result of the methane explosion and subsequent rock collapse, 47 miners were killed.
On October 28, 2004, a methane explosion occurred at the Listvyazhnaya mine in the Kemerovo region. At this time, there were 103 miners at the mine face. 13 of them were killed, 23 were injured.
On February 9, 2005, a methane explosion occurred at the Esaulskaya mine (Kemerovo region). The accident killed 25 people. At the time of the explosion, there were 17 mine rescuers and 13 miners in the mine, who were eliminating the consequences of the fire that had broken out the day before.
On September 7, 2006, in the Chita region, a fire started in one of the shafts of the Vershino-Darasunsky gold mine. At the time of the emergency, 59 people were underground. As a result of the rescue operation that lasted three days, 39 of them were saved, but 25 were found already dead. Among the dead were several mine managers who rushed into the mine to help the miners trapped in the fire. More than ten emergency ministry employees who participated in the operation were taken to the hospital with burns and carbon monoxide poisoning.