Flooding reported in Russian mine where 13 workers have been trapped for days

A gold mine in Russia’s Far Eastern Amur region where 13 miners have been trapped underground for seven days has flooded, the Emergency Services Ministry reported on Monday. According to the agency, the primary task facing rescue workers right now is to drill to the part of the mine where the workers may be located and determine whether water has reached it. However, a ministry source who spoke to state media said that most of the mineshafts are likely flooded.

On March 18, a rock collapse at the Pioneer Mine left 13 workers from multiple Russian regions trapped and unable to contact the outside world. It is unclear whether any of them survived. The day after the collapse, Telegram channel 112 reported that rescue workers heard knocking from the lower levels of the mine through a ventilation pipe, though this has not been officially confirmed. The miners were last confirmed to be at a depth of 125 meters (410 feet), while the collapse reportedly occurred about 97 meters (318 feet) below ground. On March 21, relatives of the trapped workers began traveling to the Amur region, where they’ve been given daily updates about the rescue operation and provided psychiatric treatment.

Several rescue teams are working at the mine site, including some that traveled from neighboring regions. More than 200 people are involved in the rescue operations in total. Since March 20, workers have drilled four rescue shafts in attempts to reach the trapped miners. However, the rescue effort is complicated by the risk of further collapses, and operations inside the mineshaft are currently suspended to protect the rescue wo.

Authorities in the Amur region have declared a state of emergency over the mineshaft’s collapse. Governor Vasily Orlov reported that he briefed Vladimir Putin about the situation on March 19. The Russian Investigative Committee has arrested Alexey Biryukov, the mine’s managing director, in connection with a criminal case over alleged work safety violations. A separate case has reportedly been launched over alleged criminal negligence by federal inspectors who recorded no violations at the mine during routine inspections in recent years.

Pioneer is one of the largest gold mines in Russia. Since it began operating in 2008, the mine has reportedly produced 2.8 million ounces of gold.