16 killed in Russian mine methane blast

At least 16 people were killed when a methane explosion tore through a coal mine in Siberia, emergency officials said.

Some 180 miners were safely brought to the surface soon after the explosion in the mine in Novokuznetsk, 1,850 miles east of Moscow, Irina Andrianova, spokeswoman for the Emergency Situations Ministry, said in televised comments. She said four of those brought to the surface were injured and officials were searching for 21 miners still missing.