By RIA Novosti,
Donetsk (Ukraine) : Rescue workers have located 21 miners in a coal mine in eastern Ukraine following a methane blast, a spokeswoman for the local mine safety watchdog said Monday.
“Twenty one men have been located alive,” she said.
The explosion occurred 1,000 meters underground at the Karl Marx mine in the town of Yenakiyevo in the Donetsk region early Sunday morning.
One miner was killed in the blast, and 13 are still missing.
The powerful explosion shattered windows in neighbouring buildings and injured four people on ground.
Work at the mine was suspended several days before the accident following breaches of safety regulations. The miners were carrying out maintenance work to improve safety conditions when the blast occurred.
Seven miners were killed at the state-run mine in an accident in 1999.
Ukrainian mines are considered extremely dangerous due to the use of obsolete equipment and numerous safety violations.
According to press reports, nearly 5,000 miners have died in Ukraine since 1991.