MOSCOW (AP) -- Twelve rescue workers were killed in a methane gas explosion at a coal mine in central Siberia while they were fighting a fire in the shaft, Russian news agencies reported Wednesday.
According to the ITAR-Tass news agency, the emergency workers had safely evacuated 460 miners from the Komsomolets mine Tuesday evening after a fire broke out in the shaft.
But 10 hours later they still hadn't gotten the fire under control, and were buried in a methane explosion, according to the report.
The bodies of the 12 rescue workers were recovered Wednesday morning, the news agency said. Officials at the mine, located in Russia's coal-rich Kemerovo region, were looking into the accident.
In another Kemerovo mine accident Wednesday, a rock fall killed one miner and injured two others, the Interfax news agency said. The accident at the Zenkovskaya mine happened when specialists were putting explosives into previously prepared shafts, Interfax said.
12 Rescue Workers Killed in Russia