Russian officials say a continuing search for more than twenty coal-miners trapped underground by an explosion at a Russian mine has failed to find them.

The explosion occurred more than twenty-four hours ago at Vorkuta Tsentralnaya mine in northeast Russia.

Officials said fire, blockages and poisonous fumes in the mine hampered rescue work.

Rescuers have managed to break through debris and extinguish the blaze, but have not yet broken through to the collapsed tunnel where the miners were working.

Four men are known to have died in the blast, which is thought to have been caused by methane gas; 22 others have been brought to the surface.

Deputy Prime Minister Yakov Urinson arrived in Vorkuta on Sunday at the head of a government delegation to oversee rescue efforts and begin an investigation into the explosion.

The Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, blamed the freqeuency of such accidents on outdated equipment, lack of funds and low safety levels.

Last month, almost seventy miners were killed in an explosion at a mine in Siberia.

The World Bank has granted Russia hundreds of millions of dollars in funds to restructure its coal industry, but correspondents say most of it has been spent on back pay for miners.

The government wants to close 86 unprofitable and dangerous mines out of a Russia's total of 200 in 1998.

In spite of the dangerous work conditions and the government's failure to pay miners on time, many workers oppose the plan, fearing they would be left without any source of income.
 

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