A miner, who was given the day off when a coalmine blast occurred in west Siberia, leaving at least 32 dead and 58 others missing, has not given up hope that his coworkers have survived.
More than 70 people were also injured after two explosions hit the mine, near the town of Mezhdurechensk in the Kemerovo Region, in the space of four hours late on Saturday and early on Sunday.
"I hope they survived. I won't think otherwise. What's important is that they have air," Konstantin Inyushev told RIA Novosti.
He said there was a group of 12 miners from his group working at a depth of 450 meters (around 1,500 feet) when the blast occurred. Only one was able to escape, the remaining 11 miners were trapped underground.
"The [miner] who escaped told me that when the explosion happened, he tried to get in contact with the others, but they didn't answer," Inyushev said.
He added the miner also said it was just a normal work day and all of the equipment was working fine and he did not smell any methane.
Russian Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu on Monday said 311 kilometers (193 miles) of tunnels need to be searched in order to find the 58 missing people, but added hope for their rescue was dimming.
"Rescue work is continuing, but unfortunately the work is becoming more difficult. There is less and less hope of finding anyone alive in further searches," Shoigu told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev earlier on Monday during a video linkup with the president's Situation Room with key ministers.
He added that rescuers only had 36-48 hours to find survivors.
He also added that rescuers were unable to move along the main shaft because the elevator and shaft itself were destroyed, but were moving along shafts to the left and right of the main one.
MEZHDURECHENSK, May 10 (RIA Novosti)
