Russia's Uralkali says 9 miners blocked by smoke inside mine

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Nine miners have been trapped by smoke inside a mine of Russian potash producer Uralkali, it said on Saturday.

Uralkali said a rescue operation had been started after an incident at 1004 Moscow time (0704 GMT) at a mine in Solikamsk, some 1,500 kilometres (930 miles) north-east of Moscow.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Alexander Smith)