Two workers rescued from Ukrainian coal mine

Source: Xinhua  |   2008-6-9  |     ONLINE EDITION

RESCUERS today retrieved alive two of 37 miners missing after a powerful blast ripped through a coal mine in eastern Ukraine Sunday morning, officials said.

The body of a third miner was also found over 700 meters below the surface, according to the regional mine inspectorate.

Rescuers were trying to further push their way as they believed more miners might be alive at the depth of 1,000 meters, Ukrainian television reported.

The gas blast occurred at around 5am local time (0200 GMT) yesterday at the Karl Marx coal mine in the town of Yenakiyevo in Ukraine's coal-rich Donetsk region, about 640 km southeast of the capital Kiev.

Four miners were injured in the coal mine explosion.

"The explosion was so powerful that buildings on the surface have been deformed," a witness was quoted by local media as saying.

First Vice Premier Alexander Turchynov rushed to the scene after the accident.

Local officials said work at the Karl Marx mine had been suspended several days before the accident due to safety violations and that the miners were doing maintenance work at the time of the blast.

Gas explosions are a frequent occurrence in Ukraine's outdated mines, many of which date from the 19th century.

Work has been suspended at 20 mines in the Donetsk region following an explosion on May 23 that killed 11 people.

Late last year, three explosions at the Zasyadko mine in Donetsk killed 106 people in two weeks.