Russia ends search for 13 miners stuck underground for two weeks

These miners specializing in tunneling found themselves caught in a landslide 125 meters deep in a gold mine in the Amur region. Their bodies have not been found.

They retreat without having been able to reach their position. On Monday, April 1, Russian rescuers ended operations aimed at finding 13 miners who had been missing underground for more than two weeks in the Russian Far East. These miners specializing in tunneling found themselves stuck on March 18 at a depth of around 125 meters after a landslide in a gold mine in the Amur region.

Hundreds of rescuers dispatched to the site worked to clear the debris and dig tunnels to them. But “On April 1, the decision was taken to stop the rescue operation at the ‘Pionnier’ mine”, reports Pokrovski Roudnik, the company managing the site, cited by the Interfax press agency. According to her, the “Drilling results showed that the galleries where the miners could be located are filled with rock mass and water.”

This situation put “in danger of death” rescuers and mine employees involved in operations to find the miners, the company explains. Authorities had previously announced that rescue operations were complicated by the constant flow of groundwater into the mine.

“All measures have been taken,” promises the Kremlin

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists that “all measures that could be taken (…) have been taken” to try to save the 13 minors. On Telegram, the governor of the Amur region, for his part, thanked the rescuers who worked “risking their lives”. “I’m sure the specialists did everything they could”writes Vassili Orlov, who promised financial support to the families of the missing.

Accidents in Russian mines, as elsewhere in the former USSR, remain frequent and are often linked to lax application of safety rules, poor management, corruption or outdated equipment.