Rescue operations to find 24 workers missing in a Siberian coal mine explosion were suspended today because of fears of a new blast.

The confirmed death toll after an explosion at a coal mine in Siberia has risen to 44, while the fate of 46 others still underground is unknown, Russian officials said today.

Russian state television said the death toll from two explosions in the country’s largest underground coal mine rose to 30, with about 60 people still trapped.

TWO explosions tore through Russia’s largest underground coal mine, killing 11 workers and injuring 41 others, an emergency services ministry official said.

A methane explosion has hit a Siberian coal mine, killing four people and injuring six who had to be pulled out.