International experts will discuss on Tuesday the ways to overcome the consequences of deadly blasts at the Raspadskaya coal mine in Russia's Western Siberia in May, a local government spokesman has said.
The accident at the Raspadskaya mine that killed at least 67 miners is believed to have been caused by poor observation of safety regulations. Twenty-three miners are still missing following the blasts.
Mining consultants from the international IMC Montan company, Ukrainian and Russian experts and officials will take part in the meeting that will take place near the town of Mezhdurechensk, where the mine in located, the spokesman said.
Earlier, he said repair works that are under way at the mine following the May 9 explosions have been hampered by frequent fires and underflooding.
In late June, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin demanded a speedy completion of investigations into the blasts. Putin said analysis of the Raspadskaya tragedy had shown that the coal mining industry badly needed "systematic change."
The Russian industrial safety watchdog extended the probe into the incident until the end of August.
The watchdog detected over 1,400 safety violations at the mine in 2009 and in January-April 2010 and suspended production five times.
MOSCOW, July 20 (RIA Novosti)
