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Russian mine blast kills 61

MOSCOW, March 19 (UPI) -- Sixty-one miners are dead and at least 64 others missing following a methane gas explosion Monday at a coal mine in West Siberia.

Nearly 200 miners were underground at the Ulyanovskaya mine when the blast occurred, Interfax reported.

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While explosions are not uncommon in Russia's coal industry, the Ulyanovskaya mine was opened only five years ago.

The mine produces about 3 million tons of coal annually with estimated reserves of 210 million tons, the Novosti news agency reported.

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