Miner Ilchuk: two explosions thundered at the Listvyazhnaya mine in Kuzbass not a fire – an explosion thundered there. Then the locals heard a second pop. Such details of the accident in a conversation with “Lenta.ru” were revealed by Alexander Ilchuk, an underground electrician who worked in Belovo.
When the rescuers were already at the scene, all the locals heard that at 15:44 there was a second explosion. Half an hour later Tsivilev [the governor of the Kemerovo region Sergei Tsivilev] announced that the work had been suspended due to gas pollution. Nobody talked about the second cotton, but all the locals already knew everything.
Alexander Ilchuk underground electrician
According to him, the workers who were at the epicenter of the explosion died immediately. If the fans were stopped in time, those who were further from the explosion site could have been saved, Ilchuk said.
“The fan was stopped later, when [Kemerovo Region Governor Sergei] Tsivilev arrived. It turns out that the fire happened – the fans were blown up throughout the mine, in all the workings, “the miner said.
He believes that a large number of victims are associated with the ill-considered liquidation of the accident and the illiteracy of the chief engineer.
At the same time, the acting head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Alexander Chupriyan denied information about the second explosion at a mine in the Kemerovo region, TASS reports. He clarified that rescuers do not confirm the fact of the explosion.
The incident became known early on Thursday morning, November 25. As a result, 52 people died, including six mine rescuers, and, according to the latest data, 63 people were injured. Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia Dmitry Demeshin believes that the cause of death at the Listvyazhnaya mine was a methane explosion caused by a spark. After the suspension of rescue operations the day before, the paramilitary units resumed their work on the morning of November 26 – they are engaged in isolating sections of mine workings and filling it with methane to reduce the danger of an explosion.