Work halted at coal processing plant in Russia's Far East after four injured in fire

(Reuters) - A major coal processing plant in far northeastern Russia halted work after a fire injured four people, the plant's owner, Russian miner Mechel, said on Wednesday.

Mechel said in statements that work had been stopped and staff evacuated from the plant in Neryungri in the Republic of Sakha, also known as Yakutia. A preliminary investigation pointed to a methane fire as the cause of the incident, it added.

The Yakutia emergencies ministry said in a statement on Telegram that the fire had been extinguished after causing damage to warehouses, buildings and a conveyor belt.

Russia's Investigative Committee, which handles serious crimes, said it had opened a criminal case into negligence at the plant.

Mechel owns the Neryungri plant and its parent company, Yakutugol, one of the largest coal mining companies in the Sakha Republic. The Neryungri plant, which started operations in 1985, has an annual capacity of nine million tons of coking coal.

More than 50 firefighters and 12 pieces of equipment were involved in tackling the fire, Denis Gerasimenko, deputy chief of the Neryungri Firefighting and Rescue Squad, said in a video on the Telegram messaging app.

"The difficulty lies in the design of the building and the presence of a flammable load," Gerasimenko said.

Several Russian Telegram news channels reported an explosion at the plant. Reuters could not independently verify the reports of an explosion.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Kate Mayberry, Michael Perry and Ed Osmond)