Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, Mr Tuleyev.

Aman Tuleyev: Good afternoon, Mr Prime Minister.

Vladimir Putin: I'd like to welcome everyone else participating in this videoconference. Mr Shoigu, what's the situation now?

Sergei Shoigu: Mr Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen,
An explosion took place at the Raspadskaya mine in the town of Mezhdurechensk of the Kemerovo Region at 20:54 on May 8. There were 359 miners underground, 295 of whom made it to the surface.

Nine mine-rescue groups, a total of 54 people, went down into the mine to establish what needed to be done to rescue those trapped by the blast.

A second explosion took place at 01:00 on May 9 destroying the mine's surface facilities. As of 06:00, 12 people have been killed and 47 injured. There are 83 people in the mine: 64 miners and 19 rescuers. We are in contact with them.

The rubble has been removed and ventilation has been resumed to part of the mine. We have opened a hot line. Rescuers were dispatched to the site of the tragedy on Antonov An-74 and Ilyushin Il-86 planes, and Mil Mi-26 and Mil Mi-8 helicopters.

All emergency medical services in the Kemerovo Region are involved in this operation. Governor Tuleyev, the mine's director and the head of the paramilitary rescue base, the supervisor of the rescue operation, are all on-site.
Two hours ago the head of the mine rescue service left Moscow for Mezhdurechensk. There are representatives of the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Healthcare and all relevant services in the town. A total of 231 people and 56 machines are involved in the rescue operation.

That concludes my report.

Vladimir Putin: Good. Mr Tuleyev, you're now in Mezhdurechensk. How does the situation seem to you there?

Aman Tuleyev: Mr Prime Minister, first of all I'd like to thank you for our telephone conversation late last night and the help you have provided. You know the Raspadskaya mine pretty well. You toured it in 2002, and held a meeting of the Presidium of the State Council here to discuss the future of the coal industry.

I'd like to remind you that the mine was built 37 years ago. It's the most technically equipped mine in Russia and in the world, and has one of the best methane safety systems. However, it has above average methane levels. The mine is 500 metres below the surface. There's virtually an underground town down there, with 370 kilometres of underground tunnels.

Mr Shoigu just said that the first explosion took place at 23:50 local time. We sent 19 rescuers to the mine. Four hours later the second explosion took place; it was much stronger than the first, destroying virtually all the mine's surface facilities.

At the moment there are 64 miners underground: six are not showing any signs of life. The nineteen rescuers did not reach the miners. We've lost contact with them. The main ventilation shaft failed, and no air is circulating through the ventilation system. The rescuers have a little more time left, their oxygen supplies will suffice for about an hour.

Prime Minister, you wanted to know what is happening now. The debris of the mine's surface facilities are being removed from the site so that the main ventilation shaft can be repaired, air pumped into it and the methane let out, thus creating normal conditions underground. Only after this will rescue brigades be sent down the mine. The current atmospheric composition down there does not permit us to do this.

All the directives you gave during our conversation last night have been fulfilled. Extra rescue brigades have arrived. This concludes my report.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you. Mr Volkov (director of the mine), what is your assessment of the situation? What else should be done in order to rescue people? On the technical front, what needs to be done?

Igor Volkov: We are working intensively to restore two mine shafts and to restore ventilation to the mine: the third, fourth and fifth sections. Once ventilation has been resumed and conditions have returned to normal, rescuers will go down the mine to continue the rescue operation.

In parallel we are clearing up the debris at the main ventilation shaft of the fourth section in order to restore the ventilation system. This is our main task now.

This concludes my report.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you. Now I'd like to hear from Mr Yerem Arutunyan, the head of the Kemerovo branch of the Emergencies Ministry. Mr Arutunyan, how do you assess the situation?

Yerem Arutunyan: Reporting back. Rescuers and machines were deployed promptly, and continue to be deployed to the site of the tragedy. There are 237 rescuers and 60 machines there, including 191 rescuers and 44 machines from the Emergencies Ministry of Russia.

We are acting in conjunction with all relevant services and territorial branches. I believe these efforts have been very effective. Once the ventilation system has been fixed, we will be able to resume the rescue operation.
This concludes my report.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you. Mr Sergei Gorobchak from the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development joins us today. Mr Gorobchak, what is being done to provide timely medical aid to those injured in the blasts?

Sergei Gorobchak: Mr Prime Minister, all the injured have received medical assistance. A total of 53 people are in hospital, of whom 9 and 14 people sustained serious and moderately serious injuries respectively. All necessary drugs and blood substitutes are in stock.

This concludes my report.

Vladimir Putin: Mr Shoigu, is there any need for additional physical and financial resources?

Sergei Shoigu: Mr Prime Minister, we're taking additional measures to evacuate the seriously injured. We're preparing evacuation units in Tomsk. We are simultaneously readying an evacuation unit on board an Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft here to evacuate those who have been seriously injured. If required, Russia's finest pilots are standing ready.

The Kemerovo Region has all the necessary medical equipment and drugs but if more sophisticated equipment is needed, we can take people to Moscow and St Petersburg.

Vladimir Putin: Good. This is clearly a difficult situation. I'd even say it's more than difficult; it is tragic. Dozens of people remain trapped down the mine. As you have said, we have no information on their condition. And the saddest thing is that we are unable to deploy more rescuers to the mine. We see that rescue teams suffered losses in the second blast.

In addition I would like to stress that we cannot sit around twiddling our thumbs waiting for the ventilation system to fix itself. Everyone must do everything in their power to rescue those people, as I have said.

Everything technologically possible must be done to restore ventilation as soon as possible so we can move on to the second stage of the underground rescue operation. That is the first point I'd like to make.

Second, all medical services must act effectively together to provide aid to the injured.

Third, I ask the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development and the governor to prepare proposals to provide support for the injured and the families of those who died in the tragedy.

Fourth, Minister Shoigu should go to the site of the tragedy to supervise the rescue operation.

Sergei Shoigu: Will do, Mr Putin.

Vladimir Putin: I wish you all the best and will let you get back to work.