Raspadskaya mine resumes operations, with exception of section where fire occurred

KEMEROVO. April 20 (Interfax) - Russia's Federal Environmental, Industrial, and Nuclear Supervision Service (Rostechnadzor) has suspended mining operations at the Raspadskaya coal mine, where a fire broke out the day before, assistant to the head of Rostechnadzor Andrey Vil said in his Telegram channel.

The agency confirmed to Interfax that operations are currently suspended only at the longwall where the fire broke out the day before.

As reported, on April 19, when a fire broke out at the mine, operations were suspended at the entire mine.

Vil said that in addition, a court had halted the construction of one of the ventilation drifts of the Raspadskaya mine for 90 days, and that the corresponding protocol was drawn up by Rostechnadzor on April 17. The stoppage was related to a walling breach. An employee was also injured.

Earlier on Thursday, the regional emergency response headquarters said that Raspadskaya was starting restoration work to eliminate the consequences of the fire and that the damage from it was minimal. LLC Raspadskaya Coal Company, which manages the mine and other assets of PJSC Raspadskaya, told Interfax on Thursday that the fire had been put out.

The Kemerovo Region's Investigative Committee has initiated a pre-investigation check on smoke in the mine working.

The fire broke out at the coalmine on Wednesday at a depth of several hundred meters. The Mezhdurechensk administration said there had been 275 miners in the coalmine at the time of the fire.

A representative of the coal company told Interfax that the lives and health of the miners had not been in danger, and all of them had been brought to the surface.

The Raspadskaya coal mine is the largest of its kind in Russia, and it is part of PJSC Raspadskaya, in which Evraz owns a stake of 93.2%.