The death toll from a Russian coal mine accident has reached 52, with 38 people still missing, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said Tuesday. "The rescue operation to locate and recover the missing people is being carried out around the clock," Veronica Smolskaya, spokeswoman for the ministry, told CNN. More than 80 survivors are currently in hospitals, according to the Russian State Health authorities.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/05/11/russia.mine.blast/index.html?hpt=T2

Emergency Situation Minister Sergei Shoigu said more than 700 rescue workers are now combing numerous underground tunnels of the mine, and the plan is to complete the operation within the next 24 hours, according to the ministry's website. He was speaking at a special meeting of the rescue headquarters in Kemerovo region, which was also attended by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who traveled to the region Tuesday. Russian officials are still displaying hope and optimism in public, but several sources at the mine told Russian reporters on conditions of anonymity that finding anyone underground who survived the explosions would be a miracle. What do you think can be done in order to prevent these kind of accidents in the future?