Memorial candles lit at the Miners’ Memorial in Kemerovo
Residents of Kemerovo laid flowers on the Kuzbass Miners’ Memorial Monument at the Krasnaya Gorka Museum-Preserve. In the Kuzbass region, 15 May was a Day of Mourning for the miners and rescue workers who died on the night of 9 May in a blast at the Raspadskaya Mine near Mezhdurechensk. In the cities of the region, state flags were at half-mast, concerts and entertainment/sporting events were cancelled, and television and radio programming was modified. Oblast governor Aman Tuleyev took part in the ceremonies in Mezhdurechensk.
On Sunday, emergency crews at the Raspadskaya Mine began laying a third pipe to accelerate the flooding of the section of the mine where the coal seam is on fire. According to RIA-Novosti, a spokesman for the General Directorate of Emercon in the region said, “In order to speed up the flooding of the workings, on 16 May 16 we will begin laying a third pipe to pump additional water into the mine. Increasing the water supply is part of our plan to work to stabilise the mine workings. We continue to pump water into the mine, flooding the affected workings in accordance with calculated parameters. The amount of fire suppressant delivered and the air quality remains unchanged”, he said. Specialists noted that the air lodged in the shaft is evenly distributed. An Emercon official remarked, “Our crews constantly monitor the water levels remotely from the surface, they constantly observe and analyse the situation in the mine workings through such things as water content and condition of the gas atmosphere. The output of methane recorded at control points allows us to determine when the atmosphere within the mine is stable”.
Rescue work has been under way on the scene for eight days. No decision to send rescuers to search for 24 miners, whose fate remains unknown, will be taken until the chief engineer and the leader of the Novokuznetsk mine rescue squad make a thorough assessment of the situation in the mine after the full implementation of all planned measures. Until then, all access to the mine and all of its objects is restricted.
Miners at the Mezhdurechensk Mine blast site
Doctors say that most of those injured in the blast Raspadskaya Mine are showing definite improvement [in their condition]. On Sunday, two more patients were discharged from hospital to outpatient aftercare. 82 remain hospitalised [due to injuries suffered in the mine explosion]. According to RIA-Novosti, Valery Tsoi, the head of the oblast department of public health, this shall not count against the sick leave time of the injured miners, they will continue to receive all the necessary medical care that they require. Of the 82 miners hospitalised, 76 are in local hospitals in the Kuzbass, in Leninsk-Kuznetsk, Prokopyevsk, Novokuznetsk, and Mezhdurechensk, and six [of the more serious cases] were sent to Moscow. [Not counting the two discharged on Sunday,] the number of patients hospitalised has not changed since Friday, when seven patients went home. Most of the blast victims received treatment in Leninsk-Kuznetsk, which has a specialised scientific and clinical centre for miners’ health care. Five patients at this centre are still in intensive care, but all of them show definite improvement. This includes a miner with severe injuries transferred to the oblast central trauma hospital in Prokopyevsk, he is now showing definite signs of improvement, and doctors upgraded his condition to satisfactory.
Miners in the Kuzbass made an appeal to President Dmitri Medvedev to demand the release of all arrested protesters in Mezhdurechensk and increase the salaries of all miners at profitable enterprises three-fold, according to a statement prepared by the Central Headquarters of the Union of Kuzbass Residents. In particular, Ekho Moskvy reported that the petition has the following demands:
- The release of all those held in Mezhdurechensk [as a result of the protest at the railway tracks]
- Cease harassment of those who took part in the protests
- Raise salaries in all profitable mines three-fold
- Withdraw MVD troops from Mezhdurechensk and other sites nearby
- Hold a meeting of miners with representatives of local government
If their demands are not met by 21 May, the miners are going to start a protest action.
Police and protesters scuffle at the railway line
On 15 May, police arrested 28 protesters in Mezhdurechensk. On 03.00 OSK (00.00 MSK 20.00 14 May UTC 16.00 EDT 13.00 PDT) on Saturday morning, a crowd at blocked the railway line on the outskirts of the city. Aleksandr Yelin, the head of the GUVD in Kemerovo Oblast, said that police interrogated all detainees and took statements from them. The Transportation Investigation Department of the RF SKP is considering instituting proceedings under two articles of the Criminal Code, for blocking railway lines and rioting. Due to scuffles with protesters, two OMON personnel had moderate injuries, 15 more were slightly injured, and five protesters needed medical attention. A spokesman for Russian Railways reported that because protesters blocked the line between Kara and Mezhdurechensk some trains had lengthy delays.
On Sunday, there was a funeral for the 66th victim of the Raspadkaya mine. Earlier, the bodies of 62 miners and rescuers were buried locally. Another three victims were buried in other regions. From Tuesday, May 18, a specially created regional commission and representatives from the coal company will work with the relatives of the victims to address their social and domestic concerns.
More families grieve for their dead…
In the Kuzbass, 15 May was a day of mourning for the miners and rescue workers who died in the 9 May blast. Representatives from the municipal government, activists, schoolchildren, and students gathered at the main miner’s monument area. Together with priests, they prayed for the repose of souls of the victims, and laid flowers and memorial lamps near one of the statues honouring Kuzbass coal miners. In all Orthodox parishes throughout the oblast, believers participated in prayers for the dead. Parishes in the Kuzbass will serve Pannikhidas for the blast victims at Raspadskaya for 40 days from the date of the accident.
Meanwhile, some of the mine management at Raspadskaya are under criminal investigation and house arrest, and a case is being brought because of the deaths caused by the blasts on the night of 9 May. In fact, the criminal case based on the two explosions at the mine is covered under a specific article of the Criminal Code, “Violation of safety rules during mining operations, resulting in the death of two or more persons”.
On Tuesday, a Joint Commission on Social Affairs will begin operations to organise payments to the families of the miners killed in the Raspadkaya Mine accident near Mezhdurechensk in Kemerovo Oblast on the night of 9 May. “The commission will include members from the oblast administration, the municipal department of social welfare, and the company. It will hold individual meetings with each family affected and the first payments should commence tomorrow”, Galina Kovalchuk, a press officer for the Raspadskaya Coal Company, told Interfax on Monday. She also noted that the families of the mine blast victims would be paid wages due for April. “We decided to continue to pay salaries through the cashier at the company, for if we were transfer the money through a bank, the relatives would only be able to receive such salaries for six months”, she explained. Speaking of the surviving miners, Ms Kovalchuk said that some of them would put the Raspadskaya mine back into operation, whilst others will work at other sites.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that miners would not lose wages due to mine closures. “All miners must receive the full average wage calculated for the previous quarter during the downtime at the mine”, Mr Putin said during a conference call with authorities at Novokuznetsk to discuss the aftermath of the accident at the Raspadskaya Mine. The Prime Minister noted that it’s about time that we thought about the repair and restoration of the mine. As Mr Putin emphasised, “We must do everything that we can to ensure that we all have fulfilled our obligations to the people. Of course, the State will do everything in its power to enable the carrying out of these tasks”, Interfax quoted him as saying.
15-17 May 2010
Voice of Russia World Service
http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/05/15/7883702.html
http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/05/16/7916457.html
http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/05/16/7917078.html
http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/05/16/7919389.html
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