Medics provide medical help to a victim of a methane explosion at a hospital in Russia's Siberian city of Novokuznetsk in this March 19, 2007 frame grab. 78 people were killed when a methane gas explosion ripped through Ulyanovskaya mine.(Xinhua/Reuters photo) Gallery>>>
MOSCOW, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers were working to evacuate dozens of miners trapped in a Siberian coal mine after 78 people were killed in an explosion at the mine on Monday.
About 200 people were believed to be working inside the mine when the blast caused by methane occurring in the Ulyanovskaya mine in Novokuznetsk, a city in the Siberian region of Kemerovo.
The death toll has risen to 78, among them a British citizen, the Itar-Tass news agency quoted the regional administration as saying.
In addition, at least three people were injured and some 83 others have been evacuated safely after the blast.
Rescuers are working around the clock to evacuate the rest of the workers trapped in the mine. Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu has flown to the site of the accident.
"The (mining safety) system registered a sudden outburst of a large amount of methane and a cave-in" before the blast, Regional governor Aman Tuleyev said.
"The main goal now is to find as many people as possible. The second important task is to prevent a fire in the mine," Tuleyev said. More rescuers were arriving from Moscow, he said.
The Prosecutor General's Office has opened a criminal case to see if safety rules were violated.
The Siberian region has seen deadly mining accidents in the past few years. A fire at a goldmine in Chita, another Siberian region, killed 25 miners last year. In 2005, another 25 people died in a blast at a mine in Kemerovo. ¡¡
Backgrounder: Major mining disasters in Russia since 2003
MOSCOW, March 20 (Xinhua) -- At least 78 people were killed in a methane explosion on Monday in the Ulyanovskaya mine in Novokuznetsk, a city in the Siberian region of Kemerovo.
The following is a chronology of some major mining disasters in Russia since 2003.
June 16, 2003 -- At least seven people were killed and many others injured when a roof construction caved in a coal mine in Russia's Siberian region of Kemerovo.
Jan. 10, 2004 -- Methane caught fire underground in the Sibirskaya mine of the Kemerovo region in Russia's southern Siberia, killing three people, wounding about a dozen and leaving two missing.
April 10, 2004 -- A total of 47 workers were killed when a methane blast tore through the Taizhina mine in the town of Osinniki in Russia's Kemerovo region.
Aug. 3, 2004 -- At least one miner was killed and four others were missing after a rock collapsed in the Severnaya mine in the arctic city of Vorkuta, about 1,900 km northeast of Moscow.
Oct. 28, 2004 -- At least 13 miners were killed when a mine methane blast ripped through the Listvyanino mine in the town of Belov in the Kemerovo region of Russia's western Siberian region.
Feb. 9, 2005 -- Twenty-five people were killed and five others injured in an explosion in the Yesaulskaya mine in Kemerovo regionof Russia's southern Siberia.
Aug. 14, 2005 -- Two miners died, one was injured and another one missing in a coal mine blowout and the ensuing cave-in in Kemerovo.
Sept. 7, 2005 -- Twenty-five people were killed when a fire broke out in the Vershino-Darasunsky gold mine in Chita, about 5,000 km east of Moscow.
MOSCOW, March 19 (Xinhua) -- An explosion ripped through a coalmine in Russia's Siberia on Monday but it was not clear if there were casualties, the Interfax news agency reported citing an emergency official.
The blast occurred at 11:16 a.m. Moscow time (0816 GMT) at the Ulyanovskaya mine in Novokuznetsk, a city in the Kemerovo region, an official of the Emergency Situations Ministry said.
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