23 miners rescued from stricken Ukrainian mine

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

RESCUERS today retrieved alive 23 of 37 miners reported missing after yesterday's powerful blast at a coal mine in eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian First Vice Premier Alexander Turchynov said that emergency teams found alive a further 21 miners trapped hundreds of meters underground 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, Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.

Earlier, rescuers brought two miners to the surface alive, while one miner was found dead. Up to now, the fate of another 13 miners is still unclear.

The gas explosion occurred at around 5am local time (0200 GMT) yesterday at the Karl Marx coal mine. Five workers on the surface were injured in the blast.

Gas explosions are frequent in Ukraine's outdated mines, many of which date from the 19th century.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