Yubileynaya Mine, Russia, May 24 (Reuters): A methane explosion killed 38 people in a Siberian coal mine today, weeks after 110 miners died in a blast at a neighbouring mine operated by the same company.

Rescue workers halted their search, believing there to be no more survivors in the Yubileynaya pit in the Kemerovo region of western Siberia, emergency officials said.

The blast ripped through the mine at 7.40 am Moscow time (0340 GMT) when 217 people were below ground.