At least six people were killed on Wednesday in a blast at a mine near the Urals city of Nizhny Tagil, the press service of Evraz Group, the owner, said.
A total of 123 workers were in the mine when the blast occurred. Most of them were evacuated safely. From three to seven people are listed as missing.
"During the transportation of explosive materials to an underground storage facility at the Yestyuninskaya mine an accidental detonation of explosives occurred at a depth of 180 meters," the company's vice president, Alexei Agureyev, was quoted as saying.
He said that several miners were injured.
Rescuers cite safety violations as the most likely cause of the incident.
This is the second incident at the mine this year. In late January, about 15 workers were hospitalized with carbon monoxide poisoning.
MOSCOW/YEKATERINBURG, December 23 (RIA Novosti)
