There was no news forthcoming on Monday, on the fate of eight miners still trapped in Russian mining major ALROSA’s Mir diamond mine in Yakutia.
Water leaked into the underground mine on Friday, next to the well-known open-pit, which is no longer worked. The open-pit mine, one of the world’s largest excavated holes, was subject to flooding and some of this water leaked into the adjacent underground mine. Russian officials were quoted as saying the open-pit crater contained some 300,000 cubic meters of water, the equivalent of 120 Olympic-size swimming pools.
There were 151 people in the mine when the water incursion took place. ALROSA reported that 142 were rescued almost immediately. However, nine workers were reported missing and a search and rescue operation was mounted.
One worker, a 36-year-old man, was rescued on Saturday and taken to hospital, where ALROSA said his condition was not life-threatening. The search continues for the remaining eight. ALROSA Chief Executive Sergey Ivanov said every effort was being made to find them.
https://www.gemkonnect.com/news/eight-workers-still-missing-alrosa%E2%80%99s-flooded-mir-mine