A methane detonation at the Listvyazhnaya mine in the Kemerovo region killed more than 50 people, five of whom were employees of the mine rescue service. According to RIA News, mine workers have long reported to management that methane levels have been exceeded in certain areas. Over the past year, work at “Listvyagnaya” has already been suspended nine times due to inappropriate conditions.
The mine has been under development since 1954. Reconstruction was carried out in 2003. Currently, the mine is part of Mikhail Fedayev’s holding company “Siberian Business Union”. In it long-grained coal is extracted, which releases abundant clubs of soot. According to Ivan Mohnachuk, Chairman of the Russian Independent Coal Workers’ Union, “Listvyagnaya” was equipped with “super-modern equipment, modern systems of safety, automation, control, positioning of people“.
There are several versions about the cause of the accident. According to the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Demeshin, the methane explosion and the subsequent dynamical shock were caused by a spark. This version is consistent with eyewitness accounts of “clap” and abrupt air emissions. At the same time, according to the TASS source, the smoke in the mine was the result of the burning of coal dust, which spread to fresh rock that had not been removed from the mine yet.
Initially, the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported two methane explosions, but the mine administration denied this information::
“There was no second explosion, which allegedly killed the mine rescuers. They have no barotrauma, they died of carbon monoxide poisoning”.
Due to the prevailing gas atmosphere on the site, miners and rescue workers had no chance of survival. The breathing apparatus and the self-rescuers can last up to five hours. According to the source of the “Kommersant”, on the way to the exit, one of the brigades tried to walk without self-rescuers, as a result people lost consciousness.
One of the rescuers, who had previously been presumed dead, was able to walk out on his own escape on November, 26. He was brought to the ICU with poisoning from the flames and hypothermia.
Air samples from the mine indicate a deteriorating situation in the drifts.
“All the departments just came out and they brought samples. These samples are now being processed and primary data indicate that we are expecting a worse situation” – told the head of Kuzbass Sergey Tsivilev.
In order to normalize the atmosphere, an inert foam delivery machine was delivered to the “Listvyagnaya” and the section is cooling.
After the accident, negligence by mine managers, as well as inappropriate and life-threatening working conditions, began to be disclosed. For example, in an interview for “Taiga Info”, a former employee of “Listvyagnaya” said that occupational safety had turned a blind eye to significant methane exceedances. The lava only slowed down by the arrival of the inspection to create a semblance of order.
