Coal mine fire in Russia’s Siberia kills 9, dozens trapped

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities say a fire at a coal mine in Siberia has killed nine people and injured 44 others. Dozens of others are still trapped. A Russian news agency says the blaze took place in the Kemerovo region in southwestern Siberia. The report said that coal dust caught fire and the smoke quickly filled the mine through the ventilation system. A total of 285 people were in the mine at the time of the incident with 237 of them having been evacuated. Efforts to rescue the rest are still ongoing. But they have been hampered by large amounts of smoke.