At least three rescuers died Thursday after 11 miners were killed following a fire in a Siberian coal mine. Officials said 35 miners are still trapped underground, Reuters reports….<\/b>
\n(Newser) \u2013 At least three rescuers died Thursday after 11 miners were killed following a fire in a Siberian coal mine. Officials said 35 miners are still trapped underground, Reuters reports. Methane levels are too high in the mine to search for the missing. \u00ab\u00a0The chance of an explosion is very high,\u00a0\u00bb said Sergei Tsivilev, the regional governor. \u00ab\u00a0We’ve decided to suspend the search and rescue operation until the concentration of gas reduces.\u00a0\u00bb The totals for the injured varied among sources, but all reported more than 40 people were hurt, per the AP, several critically. Coal dust caught fire in the Listvyazhnaya mine, the Russian state news agency Tass reported, and smoke was then spread through the mine by the ventilation system. There’s no communication between the people trapped and officials aboveground. \u00ab\u00a0The underground communications system is not working,\u00a0\u00bb Tsivilev said, per Reuters. About 285 people were in the mine at the time, emergency officials said, adding that at least 239 of them now are out. The most recent inspection of the mine was on Nov.19; the findings haven’t been released. Tass said an inspection in April found 139 violations, including breaches of fire safety rules. Appearing on state TV, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the government to do all it can for the injured. \u00ab\u00a0Unfortunately the situation is not getting easier,\u00a0\u00bb Putin said. \u00ab\u00a0And there’s a danger to the lives of the rescuers.\u00a0\u00bb A criminal investigation of possible safety violations at the mine, which is in the Kemerovo Region of southwest Siberia, has begun. A series of methane explosions in 2016 killed 36 miners in a coal mine in the north of Russia. After that,20 of Russia’s 58 coal mines were declared potentially unsafe. (Read more coal mine stories.)<\/p>\n