Emergency workers in the Russian province of Siberia are suspending their rescue of dozens of workers who remain trapped underground after a mine fire that has killed 11 people.

Coal dust caught fire in a ventilation shaft in the Listvyazhnaya mine in the snowbound Kemerovo region, filling the underground workplace with smoke, the TASS news agency cited local emergency services as saying.

So far, 11 people have been found dead, regional governor Sergei Tsivilev said, and 35 workers were still underground.

Russian emergency services said on Thursday they had suspended an operation to rescue those people stuck due to the risk of an explosion.

"The chance of an explosion is very high. We've decided to suspend the search and rescue operation until the concentration of gas reduces," Mr Tsivilev said.

Methane and CO2 levels were dangerously high, he said.

Dozens of others were being treated in hospital, at least some of them with smoke poisoning, while four were in a critical condition.

Rescue workers and ambulances could be seen arriving at the mine's compound in video footage, with police huddled outside as it snowed in the region, which is roughly 3,500 kilometres east of Moscow.

Around 285 people were inside the mine when smoke spread through the ventilation shaft, the emergency ministry said.

At least 239 made it above ground, authorities said.

Authorities have not said what caused the smoke.

Mr Tsivilev said there was no longer heavy smoke in the mine, which still had electricity and ventilation, but that contact had been lost with some people deep underground.

"For now, there is no heavy smoke, so we hope that there is no fire," Mr Tsivilev said in video comments shared online.

"We have no communication lines with these people, the underground communications system is not working."

On state television, President Vladimir Putin said he had spoken with the governor and emergency officials, describing the accident as a "great misfortune".

The Kremlin said Mr Putin had ordered the Emergencies Minister to fly to the region to help.

The regional branch of Russia's Investigative Committee said it had opened a criminal case into negligence that had caused the deaths.

"According to preliminary data, a number of workers suffered from smoke poisoning. The number of victims is being [verified]," it said in an earlier statement.

The mine is part of SDS-Holding, owned by the privately held Siberian Business Union.

That business made no immediate comment.

Reuters