Moscow memorial held for coal mine blast victims

(26 Nov 2021) Moscow citizens on Friday brought flowers to a spontaneous memorial honouring miners killed during a methane explosion in a coal mine in the Kemerovo region.
Russian authorities on Friday released the names of 51 people presumed dead after the mine explosion in Siberia, believed to be the deadliest since 2010.
The list with names of 46 miners and five rescuers was published online by the government of the Kemerovo region in southwestern Siberia, where the mine is located.
Authorities had initially reported 52 possible fatalities, but search teams on Friday found a survivor in what officials described as a "miracle."
A total of 285 miners were in the Listvyazhnaya mine at the time of explosion on Thursday morning that quickly filled the mine with toxic smoke. A total 239 people were rescued shortly after the blast, and more than 60 sought medical assistance for an assortment of injuries.
In Moscow on Friday night people gathered at a memorial outside the Kemerovo region's representative office, leaving flowers and notes.
Moscow citizens Pavel Kuritsin and Natalya Kramorova went to express condolences to those killed.
"This is a big tragedy, not just for a region, but for all the country."
It was the deadliest mine accident in Russia since 2010, when two methane explosions and a fire killed 91 people at the Raspadskaya mine in the same Kemerovo region.
Regional officials have declared three days of mourning while Russia's Investigative Committee has launched a criminal probe into potential safety violations. The director of the mine and two senior managers were detained.
A separate criminal probe was launched Friday into allegations that state officials who inspected the mine earlier this month were negligent.

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