Rescuers fought to reach miners trapped underground today after a mineshaft collapsed in Russia's vast Kuzbass coalfield in Siberia, killing at least 11 workers, Itar-Tass news agency said.
Tass quoted regional officials as saying rescuers were trying to get through to four miners who they knew were alive but trapped at the Ziminka pit in the Kemerevo district.
They had contacted the four who had a supply of air, but the fate of others was unclear.
Altogether, 21 miners were in the area when the roof suddenly collapsed yesterday in one of the underground workings, the news agency reported.
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Coal extraction at the Ziminka mine, which has a history going back to 1934, was halted.