Four die in coal mine gas blast

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

The other 252 miners in the shaft at the time of the blast have been safely evacuated, said Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Valentina Buratayeva.

Emergency workers are cleaning up the shaft after the blast in the Raspadskaya mine in Mezdhurechensk in the Kemerovo region, about 3,000 kilometres east of Moscow.

The cause of the blast is being investigated.

Lax safety precautions and obsolete equipment at Russian mines have led to scores of accidents in recent years. Dozens of miners have been killed.