One killed, four injured, 26 missing in Russian mine fire

At least one person was killed and four have been injured in an explosion and fire at the Tsentralnaya mine in the Komi Republic town of Vorkuta.

A further 26 miners trapped below surface are still unaccounted for, the Russian news agency Interfax reported.

Interfax quoted the Russian emergencies ministry as saying that 22 miners had reached the surface after an explosion and fire trapped them underground overnight.

They brought one dead body up with them.

Four of the miners were injured.

The ministry said there were 49 miners underground when the explosion happened.

The fate of the remaining 26 miners is still unknown.

"The fire is still raging at the mine.

Thick smoke is hampering rescue work," the press service of the emergencies ministry said.

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.