Several people died in the explosion at the Elga coal field

At the reserve pumping station of the Elga coal field in Yakutia, an explosion occurred, there are dead, the press service of the republic’s prosecutor’s office in Max reported.

According to preliminary data, the explosion occurred on September 26 during welding operations. "As a result of the incident, there are dead," the report said.

“Circumstances shall be established. According to the results of the inspection, if there are grounds, measures of prosecutorial response will be taken, the prosecutor's office said.

The investigator of Yakutia opened a criminal case on violation of safety rules in the conduct of construction and other works, which resulted in the death of two or more persons through negligence (part 3 of Art. 216 of the Criminal Code), the maximum punishment is up to seven years in prison. According to the agency, several people died as a result. Investigators and criminologists are on the scene.

The Elga deposit is the largest in Russia and one of the world's largest deposits of coking coal. Located in the center of the Toki coal basin in the southeastern part of Yakutia near the borders of the Amur region and the Khabarovsk Territory.

According to JORC (Joint Ore Reserves Committee), the deposit reserves exceed 2.2 billion tons of coking coal. The development is carried out by Elgaugol LLC.