Deadly Blast Rocks Coal Mine in East Ukraine

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/05/world/europe/ukraine-donetsk-coal-mine-explosion.html

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KRASNOARMIRSK, Ukraine — An explosion ripped through a coal mine in the separatist-held eastern city of Donetsk, Ukraine, early Wednesday morning, killing several miners and leaving dozens more trapped underground and feared dead.

By noon, the authorities were scrambling to evacuate dozens of miners at the Zasyadko mine on the outskirts of the city, several officials of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic said by telephone.

“I know of at least two dead and nine injured,” Darya Morozova, a rebel official whose portfolio includes human rights issues, said. “We believe the cause was a methane explosion.”

Forty-seven miners were missing underground, according to a spokesman for the miners’ union. Some news reports put the death toll as high as 30, implying that many of those listed as missing had died. That number could not immediately be confirmed.

The separatist-controlled regions of Donetsk and Luhansk are rich in coal and are dotted with slag heaps and active mines, both legal and illegal.

The Zasyadko mine has had deadly accidents before. A methane explosion in 2007 killed more than 100.