Russian rescue workers have drilled a 70-metre long tunnel to reach 13 miners buried in one of the country's largest goldmines, representatives of the civil protection agency told Interfax news agency on Thursday.
The miners are said to be trapped in a shaft 120 metres below the surface, following a rockfall on Monday. An estimated 9,000 cubic metres of rubble has blocked access to the miners since the accident in the Pionier goldmine in the Amur region, around 5300 kilometres east of Moscow.
The authorities say there has been no contact with the missing miners so far. However, media have reported that a ventilation shaft has successfully been cleared. Several rescue teams have been working in the mine for several days.
Specialized equipment from the Kuznetsk Basin mining region in Siberia is now to be used to speed up the work.
Pionier is one of the largest goldmines in the world. According to the operating company, Petropavlovsk, 119,000 ounces (3370 tonnes) of gold were extracted from the mine in 2020.