Investigative Committee detains Listvyazhnaya mine owner Fedyayev

MOSCOW, Dec 15 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Investigative Committee has detained Mikhail Fedyayev, the owner of the Listvyazhnaya coal mine and the chairman of the board of directors at parent company SDS-Ugol, and three top managers after a November blast that killed 51, the authority’s press secretary Svetlana Petrenko told PRIME on Wednesday.

The other detained are General Director of SDS-Ugol Gennady Alekseyev, Technical Director of SDS-Ugol Anton Yakutov, and the mine’s Chief Engineer Anatoly Lobanov, Petrenko said.

They are charged with violation of industrial safety requirements at hazardous production facilities, resulting in the death of two or more persons by negligence and abuse of authority in a commercial organization, resulting in grave consequences, she added.

On November 27, the authorities detained and later arrested Director of the mine Sergei Makhrakov, First Deputy Director Andrei Molostov, Section Chief Sergei Gerasimenok, as well as state inspectors of the local department of the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological, and Nuclear Oversight Sergei Vinokurov and Vyacheslav Semykin.

Methane exploded at the mine on November 25, when 285 people were underground. In total, 51 people, including five rescue team members, fell victims to the tragedy.

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