By RIA Novosti
Kiev : The toll in Sunday’s mine blast in the Donetsk region in east Ukraine has reached 69 and 31 miners are still missing, the Ukrainian Emergencies Service said Monday.
The Zasyadko coalmine was hit by a methane explosion early Sunday, causing a fire in the mine. At the time of the blast 457 miners were underground.
The emergency service said Monday morning it had recovered 69 bodies from the mine but there was no information of the missing 31 miners.
It said 357 miners had been brought overground, and 28 of them hospitalised.
Rescue efforts were in full swing, but a trade union representative said that the chances of finding anyone alive were slim.
The local authorities announced three days of mourning for the dead.
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