By RIA Novosti
Kiev : The death toll in a mine explosion in eastern Ukraine has gone up to 88, with 12 miners still missing, the emergencies ministry said Tuesday.
An explosion early Sunday in the Zasyadko coalmine in the Donetsk Region, the heart of the country’s coal industry, caused a fire that raged through the mine. A total of 457 miners were underground at that time, but 357 were brought to safety.
Fires, smoke and falling rocks have hampered the search effort, dimming hopes that more miners could still be found alive.
The Zasyadko coalmine is notorious for fatal accidents. In 1999, a methane gas explosion at the mine had killed 50 miners and 20 were killed in another explosion three years later. Again in September last year, 13 miners were killed and more than a dozen injured in a gas leak at the mine.
Wages of miners at most of Ukraine’s mines are calculated by the volume of coal one can turn out. This often leads miners to ignore safety procedures.
Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko, meanwhile, declared Nov 20 a national day of mourning. Flags were flying at half-mast, and entertainment programmes on television channels and radio stations were cancelled.