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Putin calls urgent mines review
NOVOSHAKHTINSK, Russia (CNN) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was going to meet with Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov to discuss the "systemic characteristics" of the nation's mining disasters after two mines tragedies in a week. Rescue workers at the Zapadnaya mine in southern Russia Wednesday rescued 11 miners trapped nearly half a mile underground, all but two of 49 cut off by rising floodwater last Thursday. But Putin's announcement came on the heels of an overnight mine explosion in Partisansk, in Russia's Far East Primorye region, that killed five miners and injured a sixth. (Second disaster) At the Zapannaya mine coal blackened survivors emerged strong enough to walk to waiting ambulances after nearly six days without food, sunlight, or communication with the outside world. "The mood here is euphoric," CNN's Ryan Chilcote said as the survivors' relatives gathered near the rescue site. By 1:00 p.m. (5 a.m. ET), all the miners had been brought to the mine's surface, and immediately taken for medical attention. All, but one, were in relatively good condition. (Miners rescued) One miner remained missing. Rescue workers also extracted the body of another miner, who died during the ordeal. Appearing on a brilliant autumn day, 10 of the the coal-blackened miners -- still wearing their hardhats and wrapped in blankets -- walked to ambulances for their trip to the hospital. Rescue workers had been laboring since Thursday to save the miners, who were some 700 meters (.7 km /.44 miles) underground, seeking refuge from the rising, icy waters in an air pocket. Tuesday, rescue workers drilled a small hole into that air pocket and set up large ventilators to try to push some of the "bad air" out before blasting a large enough hole for rescuers to pass through. Interfax reported as many as 800 people were taking part in the rescue effort. On Saturday, rescuers were able to retrieve 33 of the 46 miners who were initially trapped in the Zapadnaya mine -- 1,000 km (600 miles) south of Moscow -- Thursday around 7 p.m. That was seen as a minor miracle for Russia's rundown and disaster-prone coal industry. As the Zapadnaya mine began filling with water, the mine's electrical system shorted out, making the elevator to the surface inoperable, according to Oleg Grekov with Russia's Emergency Ministry in Rostov-on-the-Don, the regional capital. A makeshift dam that had been stemming the flow of water in the flooded mine suddenly gave way, prompting the warning the mine could quickly become flooded. Rescuers were able to slow the flow of water and create a 58-meter tunnel through the solid rock from an adjacent mine using explosives, drilling and digging equipment, toward the men's position. The 11 survivors traveled nearly two miles (3 km) from the Zapadnaya mine to the base of the adjacent Komsomolskaya mine's elevator shaft. From there, they had to go another 320 meters to the surface. The stricken mine had flooded earlier this year as underground water rose. No one was working then in the shafts. The mines date from the 1950s and are only months from being "mined out." At that time, all the mines in this city are expected to shut down, leaving hundreds of people without jobs in an already poor economy. The rescue crews on this mission -- like the miners they're trying to save -- have not been paid since March. Accidents are common in the Russian coal industry, and miners stage frequent protests over wage delays and declining safety standards. According to the Independent Coal Miners' Union, 68 miners were killed on the job last year and 98 in 2001. In June, 11 workers died when a mine shaft collapsed in Russia's Kuzbass field in Siberia. And in post-Soviet Russia's worst such disaster, more than 60 miners died when a methane explosion ripped through a Siberian pit in December 1997. -- CNN's Ryan Chilcote contributed to this report
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