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At least 28 dead and 70 missing in Ukrainian mine blast |
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Written by News Editor
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Sunday, 18 November 2007 |
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DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - An explosion ripped through a colliery in Ukraine's Donbass coalfield on Sunday, killing at least 28 miners and leaving 70 missing in the latest of a string of accidents in the region's outdated mines.
Ukraine's Emergencies Ministry said 28 miners were dead after the 3 a.m. methane blast more than 1,000 meters (3,000 feet) underground at the Zasyadko mine in the coalfield's main town, Donetsk.
The fate of 70 more was uncertain. It was unclear how many of the missing had been close to the explosion. Officials said 27 miners were in hospital, one in a serious condition.
The figures put the accident among the most serious since Ukraine secured independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Trade unionists said smoke was hampering rescue efforts.
"There is thick smoke in the shafts and for the moment rescue teams are unable to go where they are needed," one trade union official at the mine, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said by telephone.
Official statements said 457 miners were underground at the time of accident. Dozens of rescue teams had brought more than 350 miners to the surface.
The Emergencies Ministry also reported that one miner had died in a cave-in at a coal mine in Horlivka, north of Donetsk.
Accidents are common in Ukraine's coal mines, many of which date from the mid-19th century, and where experts say mining deep below the surface increases the risk of explosions. Zasyadko has experienced several accidents in recent years.
Official statistics put at 80 the death toll in mining accidents in Ukraine this year, though independent trade unions say the figure is higher. Last year, 170 miners died.
Post-Soviet Ukraine's most deadly mining accident was in March 2000, when 80 miners were killed in a coal dust explosion at a colliery near the eastern town of Luhansk.
(Reporting by Lina Kushch and by Pavel Polityuk in Kiev) |
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