MOSCOW (Reuters) - Forty-five miners were trapped in a coal mine after a fire in the Kemerovo region of Russia's Siberia, the regional Investigative Committee said on Thursday.

       An evacuation operation was underway at the Listvyazhnaya mine and 70 miners had been brought to the surface, the Investigative Committee said.

       "According to preliminary data, a number of workers suffered from smoke poisoning. The number of victims is being specified," the committee said in a statement.

       Interfax news agency, citing a mine official, reported that the whereabouts of 75 miners were unknown.

       (Reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy; Editing by Stephen Coates)