26 missing Russian miners did not survive: company

Twenty-six miners listed as missing after a pit collapsed in northern Russia three days ago did not survive and a rescue mission has been halted, the owner said today.
"According to the expert technical council, 26 people who were in the mine had no chances of surviving," Tatyana Bushkova, a spokeswoman for Vorkutaugol, which operates the Severnaya mine, told AFP in an emailed statement.
"The rescue operation has been halted.