Two killed in Russian mine explosion

MOSCOW - Two coal miners died after gas exploded in a mine in Russia's Kemerovo region, the Emergency Situations Ministry said Wednesday.

The victims were among 105 miners who had been underground at the Dzerzhinsky mine in the Kemerovo region city of Prokopyevsk when the methane explosion took place at about 18:25 Moscow time (1425 GMT), said the ministry.

The rest 103 miners have been evacuated, with two of them hospitalized with toxication, the ministry's regional branch said.

All the miners were equipped with sensors which allow rescuers to locate them, emergency authorities have said.

Kemerovo region, a major coal basin located in southwestern Siberia, witnessed several devastating mine accidents in recent years.

In March 2007, 110 miners died in the Ulyanovskaya mine, the deadliest coal mine blast in the past 75 years.

In February 2005, 25 miners and rescuers were killed in a blaze triggered by methane-air mixture explosion at the Yesaulskaya mine.