(Updates death toll) MOSCOW, June 26 (Reuters) - At least eight miners died on Monday in a methane gas explosion in a coal mine owned by Russian steel maker Severstal <CHMF.MM> <CHMFq.L> in the Arctic town of Vorkuta, the Emergencies Ministry said on Tuesday. Two miners are still missing and a rescue operation is under way, Emergencies Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov and company officials said. "The blast struck at 1855 Moscow time (1455 GMT). According to our information, there were a total of 277 miners underground at the Komsomolskaya mine when it happened," Beltsov said. He said 263 miners had been safely evacuated to the surface. Four had been taken to hospital, including one who was in a serious condition. "The fate of the three missing ones is unclear." Methane gas blasts at two coal mines in the Siberian region of Kemerovo killed 149 people earlier this year. The accidents were blamed on safety breaches. The Komsomolskaya mine in Vorkuta mine is operated by Vorkutaugol, a division of Severstal's raw materials division, Severstal Resurs. "It's very difficult to talk about reasons right now, because the rescue operation is continuing. The most important thing is to save people," Severstal Resurs spokesman Sergei Loktionov said. Vorkutaugol operates five underground mines and an opencast mine. The Komsomolskaya mine was closed after the accident but the other five operations are still running, Loktionov said. Coal from Vorkuta is supplied to Severstal's main plant in Cherepovets, the second-largest steel plant in Russia, as well as to other Russian steel makers.
