Twenty dead in Russia mine blast.

[NNadir]

I know it's traditional to ignore energy deaths that are not attributable to nuclear operations, but I, of course, have chosen to dissent from that tradition.

Today twenty people, soon to be forgotten forever, were killed in Russian coal mines. From CNN:

Twenty dead in Russia mine blast
Saturday, April 10, 2004 Posted: 10:29 AM EDT (1429 GMT)

Moscow, Russia -- A gas explosion at a Siberian colliery has killed 20 miners and rescue teams combed a vast shaft for 27 others missing underground, officials in the region said.

A spokesman for Siberia's Kemerovo district -- heart of the Kuzbass coalfield where accidents are a regular occurrence -- said rescuers had brought 20 bodies to the surface more than 12 hours after the accident.

...
Regional emergency department spokesman Valery Kovchagin told Ekho Moskvy radio that four of the 13 survivors were hospitalized with moderate injuries and burns, but the duty officer said later that only two miners remained hospitalized....


...Russia's coal mines are plagued by accidents generally blamed on lax operating procedures and ageing equipment...

...A methane explosion killed five miners at a Kemerovo region in January, and an investigation indicated a methane blast -- possibly sparked by a short circuit -- caused a ceiling collapse that killed 12 workers at another mine in the region last June...


http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/04/10/russia.mine/index.html

[NNadir]

1. Hope Fades...for 5...in Siberian Mine Blast That Killed at Least 42

I can't get an acknowledgment for these 42 dead.

Time Running Out for Russia Mine Survivors
Hope Fades As Crews Search for 5 Still Missing From Siberian Mine Blast That Killed at Least 42


OSINNIKI, Russia April 11 — The coal-blackened faces of exhausted rescuers and the red-rimmed eyes of anxious relatives told a grim story of disappearing hope Sunday, a day after a methane blast tore through a Siberian mine, killing at least 42 miners.
Five miners remained missing in the latest disaster to strike Russia's hardscrabble coal country. "Most likely, they will all be corpses," said the head of a commission dealing with the disaster...

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040411_927.html

It's rather surprising that with all the agony and protesting that accompanied what might happen in a nuclear operation, no one anywhere at any time has ever protested to shut down coal operations based on what is happening.

Can anyone explain?