Siberian protests
May 15, 2010
Russian police have cracked down on a protest in the western Siberian mining town of Mezhdurechensk by arresting 28 demonstrators.
The protesters had blocked a railroad in the town, where 66 people died and 24 went missing on May 8 because of two explosions in the Raspadskaya coal mine.
"Negotiations with regional government officials and police led to nothing. Soon afterwards, riot police began removing people from the railway. Rocks and bottles were thrown at the police," Russia's investigative committee said in a statement.
Better working conditions
The roughly 200 protesters are demanding better working conditions after last weekend's tragedy.
"It is the fault of the authorities that they pushed people onto the rails," Ivan Mokhnachuk, head of Russia's independent coal miners union, told Russian broadcaster Echo of Moscow on Saturday.
"When people are kept in the dark, when their questions are not answered, when they are left alone, when every day there are dozens of funerals and the authorities do not want to talk, a situation arises where people are displeased," he added.
ng/AFP/dpa
Editor: Martin Kuebler