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Three arrested after dam collapse in Siberia

Investigators said Sunday they had arrested three officials after a dam, said to have been built illegally, collapsed at a remote Siberian gold mine, killing 15 people.

The Investigative Committee said the director of the gold mining company, Sisim, and the manager and foreman of the mining site in the Krasnoyarsk region had been arrested.

The three have been taken to Krasnoyarsk for questioning, it said, adding that the company’s offices had been searched.

Fifteen people were killed after the dam on the Seiba River collapsed at the artisanal gold mine on Saturday, unleashing a torrent of icy water that flooded cabins where workers lived.

Five people were still listed missing on Sunday after the whereabouts of a sixth person became known, a Krasnoyarsk-based spokeswoman for the emergencies ministry, Alyona Aleksishina, told AFP.

Violations committed during gold mining were being considered as the lead cause of the accident, the Investigative Committee added.

Officials have said the dam had been built in breach of safety rules and claimed the authorities were not even aware of its existence.

A search operation continued on Sunday but bad weather prevented the use of aviation, said Aleksishina.

“It’s snowing right now,” she said.

The tragedy drew fresh attention to mining practices in Russia, which holds some of the largest gold reserves in the world.

Most of the gold is mined by large companies in the country.

Other production comes from artisanal teams involved in alluvial mining, who use techniques that environmentalists say badly damage rivers.