Waste-Material Anomaly Possible Cause of North Russia Mine Disaster

An anomaly that occurred with the waste material at the Severnaya coal mine in the northern Russian Komi Republic, may have triggered the mine's collapse but the exact reasons for the tragedy have yet to be established, the head of the country’s industrial safety watchdog, Rostechnadzor, said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Severnaya mine collapsed on February 25. Another blast hit the mine in the early hours of Sunday. The tragic incident claimed the lives of 36 people, including 5 rescuers.

"We're talking about the preliminary causes. Those technologies that were applied at the mine, they exclude such accidents… So there was a kind of anomaly in the gob [part of the mine from which the coal has been removed and the space more or less filled up with waste]," Aleksei Aleshin said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to Aleshin, it is possible that a large rock formation became lodged after being detonated instead of breaking up, letting the remaining methane out safely.

Rostechnadzor is organizing a meeting for Russia’s best experts and specialists from universities and the Academy of Sciences to try to find out the reasons for the mine collapse, how such phenomena might be predicted in the future, and most importantly, how to prevent similar accidents, he explained.