KEMEROVO, May 20 (RIA Novosti) - Kemerovo Region Governor Aman Tuleyev told the head of the regional drug enforcement service to test all coalminers working in Kuzbas for drugs, the regional government press service said.
Kuzbas, or Kuznetsk Basin, is Russia's largest coal basin in the south of West Siberia.
"Those found working under intoxication shall be immediately reported to the owners and directors of coal mines," the governor said at the meeting. These miners will be barred from work.
"Down there, an intoxicated miner is like a terrorist; this is a very troubling problem," Tuleyev said.
The test comes in the wake of a Wednesday major accident at Mine 12 of the nearby town of Kiselyovsk.
"The accident calls for tighter control over factors that could lead us into trouble - safety precautions, the moral state of miners, and workspace management," the regional government press service said.
The Mine 12 methane explosion on Wednesday 1.30 p.m. Moscow time locked up 11 miners underground, killing one. When rescued, nine miners were put in hospital.
Federal Service for Industrial Technology Supervision is in charge of the investigation, the press service said.
