Search for survivors after blast kills 31 miners

RESCUERS battled araging fire and deadly gases deep in an eastern Ukrainian coal mine yesterday looking for survivors from a methane gas explosion that killed at least 31 miners.

Emergency workers had recovered 31 bodies later yesterday and were seeking five others in the Krasnolimanskaya mine, said Andrey Klyuyev, Ukraine's deputy prime minister in charge of investigation of the blast.

"We will keep searching," Mr Kluyev told reporters.