Rescuers have found the bodies of eight trapped miners in the Solikamsk mine that caught on fire Saturday, the press service of the Perm Region government told TASS on Sunday, Trend reported.
"Rescuers found two bodies at the first level, and other six bodies at the second and third levels," the press service said. Nine people were trapped in the mine in total.
The press service said that rescuers are preparing to make another descent into the mine.
On Saturday morning, a fire broke out at a depth of 340 meters in a mine in Solikamsk, Perm Region, near the Urals, when construction work was underway by a contracting company. At that moment, 17 people were working underground, but just eight of them managed to come to the surface. Rescuers have tried to reach the remaining nine miners, but none of the attempts were successful due to high temperature and smoke.
The Russian Investigative Committee’s regional branch opened a criminal case over violation of safety rules in mining, construction and other activities that entailed death of three or more persons.