Seven miners were injured in an explosion at a coal mine in western Siberia on Sunday, a criminal probe is opened.

      The incident occurred at the Gramoteyevskaya coal mine near the town of Belovo in the Kemerovo region at 04.56 Moscow time (00:56 GMT). Seven miners were hospitalized after the explosion and a total of 55 workers were rescued. No casualties were reported.

      The Russia's Investigative Committee has said that a criminal case was opened in order to reveal probable violation of safety rules during mining works causing heavy damage to human health through negligence or inflicting heavy damage.

      High concentration of methane is still the main cause of deadly incidents at Russian coal mines. In May 2010, two powerful methane blasts at the Raspadskaya mine near the west-Siberian town of Mezhdurechensk killed 91 people, including rescue workers.