One miner has been reportedly trapped under debris following a coal mine collapse in the Siberian republic of Tuva.

Sholban Kara-ool, head of the region, has said that 79 people were rescued after a rock fall at the Mezhegei coal field early Monday.

“Unfortunately, the fate of one of them, the head of a second section, is not yet known,” Kara-ool said in a statement on the republic of Tuva’s website. The accident took place 140 meters underground, he added.

Russian steel producer Evraz, part-owned by billionaire Roman Abramovich, licenses the Mezhegei coal field.</s>One person was trapped after a coal mine collapsed in the Tandinsky district of the Tuva Republic in southern Siberia, the regional emergency operations service told TASS on Monday.

"According to our information, one person is there," the service said.

The incident at the Mezhegeyugol coal mine occurred at 11.07 a.m. local time. The rescue effort involves 21 people.
The Mezhegei coal mine in Tuva, Siberia, Russia, suffers a collapse. A total of 79 miners are rescued but one remains missing.