Eleven people died and 41 were injured in the coalmine explosions in the Kemerovo Region, a regional emergency department source said.
According to the latest information, the explosions in the Raspadskaya mine in Mezhdurechensk, the Kemerovo region, killed eleven people and injured 41, the source said.
The rescue operation was suspended. It will be resumed soon, he said.
Some were hurt in the second explosion in the Raspadskaya coalmine. There is a risk of other explosions, Kemerovo Region Governor Aman Tuleyev, who is at the site, told reporters.
He said the rescue operation was suspended indefinitely, since there was smoke in the mine. The second explosion destroyed the main air shaft. Some people were hurt on the surface.
Heavy machines are removing the obstructions in the air shaft, and specialists are organising air supply into the mine.
"The rescue work will continue when the atmosphere in the mine is restored, but to conduct rescue work now means to send people to die," the governor explained.
The rescue operation in the Raspadskaya coalmine was suspended after the second methane explosion at 01:25 Moscow time, a Raspadskaya company source told Itar-Tass.
Underground sections of the mine are filled with smoke, and it is impossible to continue the operation. Work is underway now to clear the mine of smoke.
After the second explosion, contact with three rescue teams -- 20 rescuers -- is lost, the source said.
According to the updated information, 359 people were in the mine when the first explosion occurred on Saturday at 20:55 Moscow time. However, the mining company confirmed that 312 people, according to the lists, were underground at the moment.
By 03:30 Moscow time, 295 miners were evacuated from the mine, and 54 miners and 20 rescuers remained underground.
According to the preliminary information, eight people died and 24 were injured in the first explosion. Twelve people were taken to hospital.
An operational headquarters is working at the site. It is headed by the Kemerovo Region's Governor Aman Tuleyev.
A total of 152 specialists of the Emergencies Ministry and eight reanimation teams are working there. Twenty nine units of machines are used in the operation.