Death tolls continue to rise after a mining accident in Russia on Thursday. Thirty-six people have been confirmed dead in Russia's worst mining disaster in the country's history, the AFP reports.
This accident follows a string of mining accidents in Russia's coal mining industry, according to Reuters.
A methane explosion occurred at the Severnaya mine in Arctic Russia on Thursday. The explosion occurred 784 meters below the surface and killed four miners instantly. Since then, rescue crews have tirelessly searched for 26 missing workers. The crews were unsuccessful, however.
"The circumstances in the affected part of the mine did not allow anyone to survive. In the underground space where the 26 miners were, there were high temperatures and no oxygen," said Vladimir Puchkov, minister of emergency situations, according to the New York Times.
Since the first explosion, two subsequent explosions occurred. These killed six more people, raising the death toll to 36.
A criminal investigation has since been launched, officials believing a breach of safety regulations as the likely cause. When the explosion first occurred, 110 people were in the mine. Eighty have since been rescued.
