Thirteen workers have been trapped after a rock fall in a gold mine in Russia’s Amur region.

The accident happened at the Pioneer mine, one of the largest of its kind in the country.

Local governor Vasily Orlov wrote in a Telegram statement: “We are mobilising all forces and means to help the victims at the Pioneer mine in the Zeya district.

“Now we need to competently and professionally organise emergency rescue operations.

“A regional emergency regime has been introduced in the Amur region.”

He added: “Mine rescue teams from the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations from Neryungri and Khabarovsk arrived to help the mine specialists, and rescuers from the Primorsky Territory are also following to the site.

“In addition, a reserve of specialists from Kuzbass has been prepared.”

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The mine – which is in the Eastern Siberia Amur region that borders China – is owned by the London-listed Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk.

In 2022 the company filed for administration after Western sanctions on Gazprombank, its main lender and the sole buyer of its gold, left it struggling to repay debt.

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