Scores dead in Ukraine mine blast

Thirty-five miners remained trapped today after a methane blast ripped through a coal mine in eastern Ukraine, killing at least 65.

The blast, which happened in the early hours of yesterday, was the ex-Soviet nation’s worst mining accident in seven years, emergency chiefs said.

More than 360 miners were rescued, but 35 others remained trapped inside the mine – one of Ukraine’s largest and deepest – with a raging fire hampering efforts to save them. One miner said he had to clamber over dead colleagues along the rail track and navigate through blinding dust to escape.

The explosion occurred about 3,300 feet deep inside the Zasyadko mine in the regional capital, Donetsk, the heart of the country’s coal mining industry, the Emergency Situations Ministry said.

The accident highlighted the lack of attention to safety in a country with some of the world’s most dangerous mines.

President Viktor Yushchenko blamed his Cabinet for not doing enough to reform coal mining and ordered an official panel to investigate the accident and bring those responsible to account.

Local authorities declared three days of mourning for the dead miners.

Dozens of teary-eyed relatives gathered at the mine’s headquarters in Donetsk waiting for news on their loved ones. As grim-faced officials emerged to announce the names of the workers found dead, the relatives broke into sobs and cries. Some fainted.

Natalia Piskun, who waited for news on her husband, who was among those believed trapped inside the mine, said she would never forgive the mine’s director if her husband was dead.

“If, God forbid, he is lost, I promise I will, if I manage, I will bite this fat beast on his leg. I promise, I swear to you,” Piskun, her face distorted by anger and pain, said.

Prime minister Viktor Yanukovych, a native of the mining region, visited the site about 450 miles south east of Kiev, pledging to help victims’ families.

Authorities evacuated 367 miners. Twenty-eight were taken to hospital, the ministry said.

Vitaliy Kvitkovsky, a miner in his 30s, among those evacuated, said he had to walk over the bodies of his dead colleagues in order to climb to the surface.

“The temperature increased sharply and there was so much dust that I couldn’t see anything. … So I was moving by touch over dead bodies along the rail track,” Kvitkovsky said.

Experts say Ukraine’s mines are dangerous largely because they are so deep, typically running more than 3,280 feet underground. In comparison, most European coal beds lie at a depth of 1,640 to 1,970 feet.

Methane is a natural by-product of mining, and its concentration increases with depth. More than 75% of Ukraine’s some 200 coal mines are classified as dangerous due to high methane concentrations.

Mines must be ventilated to prevent explosions, but some rely on outdated ventilation equipment, officials said. Safety violations and negligence add to the problem.

Yanukovych said a safety watchdog had reported that miners were working in accordance with norms.

“This accident has proven once again that a human is powerless before the nature,” he said.

It was the deadliest mine accident in Ukraine since an explosion at the Barakova mine in the eastern Luhansk region killed 81 miners in March 2000.

Last year, a blast at the mine killed 13 workers. In 2002, an explosion killed 20 and 54 died in a similar explosion in 2001. In May 1999, 50 miners were killed in a methane and coal dust blast there.

Since the 1991 Soviet collapse, more than 4,700 miners in Ukraine have been killed. For every million tons of coal brought to the surface in Ukraine, three miners lose their lives, according to official data.

Despite the dangers, there is growing appetite for Ukraine’s rich coal reserves, particularly amid rising natural gas prices. The government has called for production to be increased by a third to 80 million tons this year.