The Australian reported Russian rescue teams saved the four miners who had been trapped underground for 40 hours in the Ziminka coalmine in the Kemerovo region on Monday.

Up to 21 miners were underground when the blast caused the roof to cave in. At the time of the explosion three miners escaped on there own and another two were brought out and hospitalised.

Eleven have been confirmed dead and one miner remains missing and is presumed dead. The explosion was believed to be caused after a spark from electronic drilling equipment ignited methane, causing the roof of the lower shaft to collapse.

The rescue team reached the men trapped 250 metres below the surface by drilling through solid rock.

According to the Australian a spokesman for the Prokopyevskugol mining company said rescuers pumped air through a tube to the four men and established communications via telephone.

Rossinformugol Russian coalmining director-general Anatoly Skryl said thirty miners have died in accidents between January and April this year, with last year’s death toll at 85 and 132 deaths in 2001, the Australian reported.

Meanwhile in India all 17 bodies of miners killed in a flood disaster at Godavarikhani mine have been retrieved and identified.

The 17 miners were trapped on Monday while they were engaged in clearing operations at the underground mine following a sudden gush of water from one of the coal seams.

The state government had ordered a judicial probe into the cause of the disaster and to examine safety measures.