An explosion at a Russian coal mine has killed at least 12 people and dozens of rescue workers have been trapped by another blast.
Another 41 people were injured in the explosions at the Raspadskaya mine in the Kemerovo region in Russia's coal-rich Kuzbass late Saturday.
The first explosion was caused by methane gas but authorities did not specify what caused the second blast.
64 miners and 20 rescuers were still underground nearly nine hours after the first explosion.
Rescue operations were suspended because of dangerous conditions and fears of further explosions after the second blast some four hours later damaged the ventilation shaft.
Itar-Tass quoted a source at the company that owns the mine, also called Raspadskaya, as saying contact with the 20 emergency workers in the mine had been lost and their fates were unknown.
The mine in the city of Mezhdurechensk had reserves of some 450m tonnes of coal and produced 8.9m tonnes in 2007, according to the Raspadskaya company.
It says the pit is the largest underground mine in Russia.
