Moscow: At least 20 miners were killed
and 17 others went missing in two separate accidents at coal
mines in Ukraine on Saturday, officials said.
Sixteen miners were killed instantly after an
explosion in a coal mine in the Lugansk region in eastern
Ukraine early today.
The blast took place in the Sukhodolsk-Vostochnaya
coal mine at Krasnodon in the Lugansk region. A total of 28
people were working at the pit when the explosion occurred,
Interfax reported quoting disaster management authorities of
Ukraine.
Another three workers received burns and other
injuries and were hospitalised. One of the injured died later
of his wounds. The two injured were in a grave condition.
The authorities said that the fate of 9 miners
remains unknown.
Officials did not provide details on the cause of the
blast. Most of the country's mine disasters have been caused
by build-ups of methane gas.
In a separate accident, three miners were killed when
an elevator collapse at the state-controlled Bazhanova mine in
the town of Makiyivka in the neighbouring Donetsk region.
Eight workers were missing and officials said it
appeared they were still alive but trapped under the rubble.
Today's twin disasters were the country's worst mining
accidents since more than 100 miners were killed in a mine
explosion in 2007.
Deadly accidents are frequent in Ukrainian mines, with
many of them are poorly equipped.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, July 30, 2011, 23:33