An Explosion Rocked Russia's Largest Coal Deposit In Yakutia
- 26.09.2026, 12:58
Four people were killed.
An explosion occurred Thursday at the Elginsky coal field in Yakutia—Russia’s largest in terms of coal reserves. According to the regional prosecutor’s office, the incident occurred “during welding work” at a backup pumping station. Several people were killed in the explosion. The agency has launched an investigation. According to Baza, the death toll has reached four, with two others injured—they were found to have head injuries and multiple fractures. The channel claims that during welding, a depressurization occurred in a water tank, accompanied by “an intense shock wave.” As a result, six workers fell from a great height and sustained injuries.
REN TV reports that the workers were welding near a tank containing methane, which led to the explosion. Four men aged 20, 22, 38, and 49 were killed. The Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case under the article on violation of safety rules during work, resulting in the death of two or more persons through negligence (Part 3 of Article 216 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), according to the Investigative Committee’s office in Yakutia. “A fire broke out during welding work at the backup pumping station, resulting in the deaths of several people,” the statement said. The Elginskoye deposit is the largest in the Russian Federation in terms of coking coal reserves, which are estimated at more than 2.2 billion metric tons.
Elgauhol, the company developing the deposit, told Interfax that “the incident may have been related to a loss of pressure in the water tank at the backup pumping station.” It is noted that the facility, which is not part of the main production complex, is operated by a contractor and falls under its area of responsibility.
The deposit is located in the southeastern part of Yakutia in the Neryungri District, where earlier this week a fire broke out and shut down the Neryungri State District Power Plant of the same name.
The fire spread over 90 square meters, damaging the transformer substation of power unit No. 1, a generator, technical equipment, and a number of other facilities, according to authorities. One employee of the plant—the largest in the region—was injured in the fire. The preliminary cause of the fire, which led to a widespread heating outage in southern Yakutia, was “abnormal operation of electrical equipment.”