Terrified workers at a mining compound in one of Russia's most isolated regions are refusing to go to work after a pack of giant bears attacked and ate two of their colleagues.

At least 30 of the hungry animals have been seen prowling close to the mines in northern Kamchatka in search of food, where the mangled remains of the two workers, both guards, were found last week.

The co-workers at the compound in the Olyotorsky district are trapped and frightened: the gruesome discovery has left them too scared to venture out. A team of snipers, with orders to shoot the bears, is now being dispatched to confront the invasion after government officials authorised an off-season hunt.

A spokesman for the local government in the capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, said that the area was so isolated that it would take until at least Saturday to get there. Attempts to reach the scene by helicopter had to be abandoned because of thick fog.

The Kamchatka brown bear is one of the world's largest, with males growing to around three metres (10ft) and weighing up to 700kg (1,540lb). They can also reach speeds of up to 30mph (48km/h) despite their size.

The peninsula, nine timezones east of Moscow and twice the size of Britain, is home to an estimated 16,000 bears.

They are generally peaceful and feed on salmon in Kamchatka's rivers. Environmentalists argue that widespread poaching has caused a fish shortage, prompting the starving bears to become aggressive as they seek out food close to human settlements.

Their arrival has paralysed work at platinum mines owned by the Koryakgeologia company. Geologists refused to leave their compound in Mount Ledyanaya after 20 bears were seen wandering around, while at least 10 animals were spotted at nearby Penisty.

“In the interests of safety they didn't come out to work — the people are scared by the invasion of bears,” a spokesman for the Kamchatka emergencies ministry said. Villagers in nearby Khailino are also afraid to leave their homes after bears were seen rummaging through garbage.

The local administration appealed to the regional government to sanction a hunt to protect residents. Many villagers in Kamchatka hunt bears in the autumn and store their meat for food in winter.

Opinion is divided over how many bears should be killed to prevent further incidents. Viktor Leushkin, a village official, told the Itar-Tass news agency: “These predators have to be destroyed. Once they kill a human, they will do it again and again.”

Experts argue that a mass slaughter is unnecessary and that the snipers should concentrate on isolating the two or three bears whose tracks were found close to the mutilated bodies of the guards.

They believe that the other bears can be frightened away from the settlements and forced back into the forest to hunt for something to eat, although this could prove problematic as the creatures are much more willing to scavenge for food in towns than before.

Kamchatka is not alone in facing problems with hungry bears. The mutilated remains of a man were found last month after he was attacked on nearby Sakhalin island, the third person killed by a bear this year. This month a young bear was found prowling the streets of the city of Nizhny Novgorod after it escaped from the local zoo. Residents reportedly fed and played with him before zoo keepers retrieved the animal.

Last month a woman was mauled to death by a bear that had ventured into the suburbs of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatka.

The Koryakgeologia platinum mine is owned by Renova Group, the management company headed by the billionaire Viktor Vekselberg. He is also one of the four Russian shareholders waging war with BP over the future of their joint venture company TNK-BP.

Take care in the woods . . .

— A 14 year-old girl riding in a 24-hour mountain bike race in Alaska was attacked by a grizzly bear in the middle of the night last month. She suffered head, neck, torso and leg wounds

— At least seven people were injured by a wild bear in Nuapada district, India, this month

— A drunk man was killed trying to photograph two brown bears at a zoo in Ukraine, also this month

— On July 17, a bear entered a tent and bit a camper in Montana, leading the US Forest Service to evacuate two campgrounds

— A day later a runner was bitten up to eight times by a black bear near Lake Louise in Canada

— Yesterday a woman was attacked and severely injured by a bear in southern California while walking her dogs. One of the dogs was also injured

Sources: agencies

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