In the Amur region, work on the rescue of trapped miners was stopped

At the “Pioner” mine in the Amur region, where 13 miners remain blocked for more than a week, most of the emergency and rescue work has been stopped. This is reported by TASS.

The work was stopped due to the mobility of the soil, the operational services explained. The rescuers planned to drill a fourth well to reach the mine where the workers are blocked. However, they decided to postpone the drilling due to the risk of repeated breakthrough of the rock.

On March 25, rescuers found out that the mine shaft was probably flooded with water. The representative of the mine, Roman Sorokin, stated that there is no complete certainty of flooding, so rescuers will continue to drill holes for access to the mine. On the same day, the director of the mine, Aleksey Biryukov, was detained.

On March 27, he was charged. According to the investigation, he knew that work in the mine was being carried out next to the water-filled pit, but he did not organize water pumping. Water destroyed one of the walls of the pit, resulting in a landslide. The court arrested the manager during the investigation.

A criminal case has been initiated under the third paragraph of the criminal article on violation of safety rules during work, under which Biryukov faces up to 7 years in prison. The article is used in case of death as a result of violation of two or more persons. The death of the miners has not yet been officially announced.

The collapse at the Pioner mine occurred on the evening of March 18. As a result of the collapse, the miners were trapped. Their fate is still unknown, there is no connection with them.

The “Pioner” plant is owned by the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company, Russia’s largest copper producer. In 2022, it bought the key assets of the Petropavlovsk gold-mining company. In 2020, Pioneer produced 2.8 million troy ounces (3.7 tons) of gold.