100 Ukraine miners feared dead
Monday, 19 Nov 2007 09:33
Scores killed in Ukraine mine explosion
Up to 100 miners are feared dead after an explosion tore through a coal mine in eastern Ukraine.
Rescuers have confirmed 65 mine workers as killed, while 35 remain unaccounted for at the Zasyadko mine, which lies in the Donets Basin.
Relatives wept and many openly wailed as a list of the dead workers was read out at the mine.
If the death-toll rises above 80 the accident will be the worst in Ukraine's post-Soviet Union history.
Seven years ago scores of miners died in an explosion at a coal mine in Luhansk.
Twenty-seven mine workers remain in hospital following the methane explosion, which took place 1,000m underground. More than 450 workers had been in the mine at the time of the blast.
Prime minister Viktor Yanukovych has already visited the Donetsk region, where he was born, to observe rescue efforts.
"There is a blockage at the accident site formed by a cave-in, airshafts and water channels," he said. "This is being cleared."
And president Viktor Yushchenko was due to visit the mine's site today, amid accusations aimed at bitter rival Mr Yanukovych's government that the mining sector had been starved of necessary safety funds.
Three days of mourning has been declared in the Donets Basin region following the accident.