Russia halts rescue operation at Pioneer gold mine in Amur

Moscow [Russia], April 1 : The rescue operation at the Pioneer gold mine in the Amur Region of Russia's Far East has been halted, ending the search for the group of miners trapped underground after a mine accident, who are now presumed dead, Russia-based TASS reported.
The accident happened on March 19, when 13 mine workers ended up being trapped under the rubble after a section of the mine shaft collapsed and caved in.
Rescue operations began on the same day and equipment and manpower was deployed from a number of regions. The rescue operation was halted due to the high risk of another collapse threatening the lives of rescue workers.
The emergency services were informed about the collapse at the Pioneer gold mine in Zeysky district in Amur Region, on March 19. 13 miners who were trapped had travelled from other regions to work at the mine on rotation shifts.
As per the news report, five miners were from Russia's Republic of Bashkortostan and their last recorded location was at a depth of 147 metres below ground. The volume of the rock wall blowout amounted to more than 190 cubic meters, exceeding initial estimates by almost 22-fold.
On the day of the mine accident, the Amur Region declared a state of emergency to mobilise all forces and equipment. Emergency response centres were functioning outside the region as well, for instance, in the Kuzbass coal mining region in southwestern Siberia.
Rescue work at the mine started on March 19 and ended on April 1. More than 200 first responders and emergency specialists worked on site, including an operational team from the Russian Emergencies Ministry's Main Directorate and a team of psychologists who provided aid to the miners' relatives.
Pokrovsky Rudnik, the mine's management company, said that the families of workers now presumed dead will receive payments equal to their yearly salary. Rudnik said that the children of miners will be paid monthly compensation stipends until they reach adulthood.
Amur Region Governor Vasily Orlov said that the families of the deceased miners will receive financial aid from the regional government's reserve fund.
On March 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin heard reports by Emergencies Minister Alexander Kurenkov and Governor Orlov on the situation at the mine, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
Putin had instructed that all necessary measures be taken to rescue the miners and provide all necessary emergency aid, according to TASS report.
On March 19, the Far Eastern branch of Russia's mining safety regulator, the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Supervision (Rostekhnadzor), said that it had launched a probe into the causes of the mine collapse.
Meanwhile, Amur Region investigators opened a criminal case under Russian Criminal Code (RCC) Article 216 ("Violation of Safety Rules During Operations"), and the regional prosecutor's office took control of the investigation.
On March 25, the regional directorate of the Russian Investigative Committee brought charges under RCC Article 293 ("Negligence"), on the basis of the results of an inspection carried out by the prosecutor's office, TASS reported.
Law enforcement operatives on March 26 detained the managing director of the Pioneer mine. On March 27, he was charged with violating operational safety rules (RCC Article 216) and taken into custody.