ASTANA, June 2 (RIA Novosti) - Five miners are missing following a cave-in and methane leak at a coal mine in central Kazakhstan, the region's governor said.
Of the 100 people working in the mine at the time of the incident, 95 have been evacuated so far.
"The rescue operation is being hampered by a 70-80-meter high mountain of coal," Nurlan Nigmatilin said.
He added that there had been no fires in the mine and all the evacuated miners were "almost unharmed."
The incident was believed to have been caused by a gas shifting in the coal seam. Mine authorities have recently carried out work in the area to prevent possible methane leaks.
