Hope fades for russian miners

Russian officials say hope is fading for twenty-five Russian coal-miners who have been trapped underground after an explosion.

Officials said a fire, blockages and poisonous fumes in the mine at Vorkuta in the Russian Arctic were hampering rescuers who had been trying to get to the men for several hours.

Two men are known to have died in the blast, which has been blamed on a build-up of methane gas; twenty-two others have been brought to the surface.

The Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, announced a government commission to co-ordinate rescue work.

He blamed outdated equipment, a lack of funds and what he called a neglect of workers' safety for recent accidents.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service