Rescuers extinguish coal mine fire in Krasnodon

Rescuers put out a fire at the Samsonovskaya-Zapadnaya mine in Krasnodon, the Lugansk People’s Republic Emergencies Ministry press service reported.

The fire broke out on 6th belt road at horizon 956 m during exploration drilling at 17:37 on August 25. There were 64 workers in the mine at the time of the accident, including 28 in the affected section. All the personnel were evacuated to the surface at 19:40.

“At 2:00, the technical council decided to switch from emergency mode to technical operation as the concentration of harmful and explosive gases had fallen to permissible norms. The technical works were finished at 6:00,” the Emergencies Ministry said.

Launched in 1999, the Samsonovaya-Zapadnaya colliery belongs to the Krasnodon division of the Republican Fuel Company Vostokugol. Its output nearly reached 20 million tons of coal over two decades of operation. The length of tunnels exceeds 85 kilometers. The coalmine is dangerous due to sudden coal and gas bursts and coal dust explosions. *i*s