Alva Review-Courier -

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian emergency teams struggled Saturday to reach nine construction workers trapped inside a burning potash mine in the Perm region near the Ural Mountains.

Officials said the fire erupted Saturday when 17 workers were inside the mine in Solikamsk, which is located 1,200 kilometers (740 miles) east of Moscow. Eight workers were quickly evacuated but the blaze cut access to another nine workers in a different section of the mine.

The Russian company Uralkali, which owns the mine producing the potassium-rich salt potash, said the trapped workers were employees of a subcontractor...