More than 150 people are being evacuated after a water breakthrough at the pumping station of the Mir diamond mine belonging to the mining giant Alrosa in the Russian Far East Republic of Yakutia.
“The evacuation is ongoing. A total of 151 people were at the mine [at the time of the incident],” TASS reports citing the republic's emergency services office.

Alrosa confirmed the incident, saying that the water breakthrough took place at 4:30pm local time.

Alrosa's shares on the Moscow Exchange plunged 2.5 percent as news of the incident broke, but have since recovered most of the losses.

Yakutia authorities have launched an investigation into the incident, TASS reported, citing a source in the republic’s prosecutor’s office.

The head of the Republic of Yakutia, Egor Borisov, is headed to the scene, as well as Alrosa company President Sergey Ivanov.

Rostekhnadzor, Russia’s ecology watchdog has arrived at the diamond mine, the body’s official Yulia Neposedova told TASS. “A commission to investigate the incident will soon be established.”

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