Almost a year after twin blasts ripped through the Raspadskaya coalmine in western Siberia, rescue workers say they are close to finding 11 bodies that remain underground.

The two powerful methane blasts on May 8-9, 2010, killed 91 people, including rescue workers. Only 80 bodies were uncovered from the mine near the west-Siberian town of Mezhdurechensk.

A rescue worker told RIA Novosti that fires still raging in the mine shaft are blocking off access to the areas where the missing bodies are thought to be. The workers are pumping water onto the fires and expect to clear paths in the next few days.

MEZHDURECHENSK (Kemerovo region), May 4 (RIA Novosti)