Russian mine accident claims 36 lives

Thirty-six people are dead after Russia's worst coal-mining accident in years, with authorities abandoning rescue efforts in the northern town of Vorkuta.
Descending into the smoking pit of a coal mine after methane explosions set off underground fires, six rescue workers were killed on Sunday in a failed attempt to reach 26 stranded miners in northern Russia.
Russia's most senior federal disaster official declared on the same day that the rescue operation over and all of the missing miners, who had been trapped by a cave-in, dead.
The mine fire, more than 760 metres underground, was to be extinguished by starving it of oxygen, Denis Paikin, the technical director at Vorkutaugol, which runs the facility, said. An alternative would be to partly flood the pit.We are sorry to hear the news, our hearts, our thoughts and hopes are with you.