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Two More Dead Found At Site Of Deadly Dam Collapse In Siberia


Rescue workers search for bodies after a dam collapsed near the village of Shchetinkino in the Krasnoyarsk region on October 19.
Rescue workers search for bodies after a dam collapsed near the village of Shchetinkino in the Krasnoyarsk region on October 19.

Emergency workers in the Russian Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk have found two more bodies near a collapsed dam during search-and-rescue operations.

The two dead miners found on October 22 were among five who remained missing at the site near the village of Shchetinkino.

It brings the death toll to at least 17 miners who were killed when the dam collapsed at a gold mine in the early morning hours of October 19.

Sixteen miners received medical aid, with at least three being airlifted to a regional hospital with severe injuries.

Heavy rains had caused erosion of the dam and water had broken through early on October 19, sweeping away several cabins where workers at the mine lived, Interfax quoted a local official as saying.

An unidentified worker from the mine told a Moscow-based radio station that workers had been caught by surprise by the flooding.

"People were sleeping -- apparently they did not even understand what was happening," said the man, who described the accommodations as hastily built cabins.

Shchetinkino
Shchetinkino

Russia's Investigative Committee said it had opened a criminal probe into safety violations at the gold mine.

Deadly accidents are relatively common in Russia, largely due to disregard of safety rules, poor management, and Soviet-era infrastructure.

In 2009, 75 people were killed in a massive flood at Russia's biggest hydroelectric plant in the Khakassia region of Siberia.

Based on reporting by Current Time, AFP, Reuters, TASS, and Interfax

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