MOSCOW, March 19 (RIA Novosti) - The death toll in a methane explosion at a mine in West Siberia has risen to 27, the local emergencies department said Monday.
The Emergency Situations Ministry said 86 of 200 miners had been rescued up to now from the Ulyanovskaya mine in Novokuznetsk, the largest coal producing center in the Kemerovo Region.
Rescuers are continuing work at the site. Earlier reports said Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu would soon fly to Novokuznetsk on President Vladimir Putin's order.
The Russian Prosecutor General's Office said a criminal investigation had been launched into the explosion.
Explosions are not uncommon in Russia's crumbling coal mining industry. But the Ulyanovksaya mine was only opened in 2002. It produces 3 million metric tons of coal annually and its reserves total 210 million metric tons.
