Dozens Killed in Ukrainian Mine Blast
At least 33 people were killed Wednesday by a Zasyadko coal mine explosion in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
“According to preliminary information, more than 30 people were killed. Rescue workers have not yet come to the place of the explosion, they are removing the poisonous gas and then will go down,” said the head of the local mining safety service Vladimir Tsymbalenko.
Officials at the mine said that the blast was not caused by the fighting in the area, but was most likely caused by gas.
By 9:00 a.m. local time, 157 workers had emerged from the mine, leaving 73 people unaccounted for.
Oleg, a welder at the mine told the BBC, “I’ve been down the pit for 23 years, and this is the fourth explosion that I can recall … If they didn’t get them out straight away, then later they will only retrieve bodies. An explosion is a terrible thing.”
In 2007, an explosion at the same mine killed 106 people.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk claimed that rescue workers have been sent to the area, but the “Russian terrorists” did not let them reach the scene of the accident. Kyiv often refers to the separatists in eastern Ukraine as “Russian terrorists.”
Donetsk has been one of the areas of heavy fighting in the past year between separatists and the Ukrainian military. After the cease-fire was announced two weeks ago clashes have diminished significantly.
In 2013, the Zasydko coal mine produced 1.4 million tons of coal.