OREANDA-NEWS. December 24, 2009. The families of miners killed in a blast at the Yestyuninskaya Mine of the Vysokogorsky Iron Ore and Processing Plant (VGOK) in Nizhny Tagil on December 23, will receive 1.9 million roubles each, including 1 million roubles from Evraz. Evraz will transfer the money by Monday, 28 December.

Relatives of the deceased miners will be paid 500,000 roubles per family under the employees’ voluntary insurance programme that Evraz has introduced at its plants. As announced by representatives of the Sverdlovsk Region authorities and the Nizhny Tagil administration, the miners’ families will also receive 300,000 roubles and 100,000 roubles respectively from the regional and municipal budgets. In total, the payment to each family will make up 1.9 million roubles.

Besides this, medical and psychological help will be rendered to the miners’ families. VGOK will compensate them for funereal costs. The widows and miners’ mothers will be provided with medical treatment at health resorts, assistance will be given to deceased miners’ children.

25 December is proclaimed the official mourning day in the Sverdlovsk Region and at all Evraz plants. All the festive events have been cancelled.

A commission consisting of the Russian Technical Supervisory Board (Rostechnadzor), the public prosecutor’s office and Evraz representatives is investigating the reasons of the mine accident. The investigation will be going on for at least 15 days.

Recovery works at the mine are expected to be completed within the next three days.

Evraz expresses its profound and sincere condolences to families and relatives of the deceased miners.

Yestyuninskaya Mine accounts for 30% of the VGOK total output. The existing inventories in the amount of 80,000 tonnes of iron ore, worth of the Yestyuninskaya Mine’s monthly output, are enough for the plant to fulfil contractual obligations on supply of iron ore.