37 trapped in Ukraine mine explosion

Source: Agencies  |   2008-6-9  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

A POWERFUL explosion tore through a mine in eastern Ukraine early yesterday, trapping at least 37 miners who had been making repairs to improve safety conditions in the mine, officials said.

Four workers above ground were injured. The explosion occurred around 5am about 1,000 meters underground at the Karl Marx mine in Donetsk, said Maryna Nikitina, a spokeswoman for Ukraine's industrial safety watchdog agency.

At least 37 miners were trapped underground, Nikitina said. Four workers who were above ground at the time, three of them women, were hospitalized with severe burns, she said.

The explosion damaged two shafts and destroyed several buildings above ground, TV reports said. Rescue workers have begun trying to get to the trapped miners, Coal Industry Minister Viktor Poltavets said.

The explosion of methane gas and coal was the most powerful in Ukraine's coal mining history, said deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Turchynov.