34 miners remain trapped underground after coal mine explosion in Ukraine

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Rescuers continued searching Monday for 34 miners trapped underground after a powerful explosion ripped through a coal mine in eastern Ukraine. Salvage teams rescued two miners and recovered one dead body after the explosion tore through the mine in the eastern Donetsk region early Sunday. The miners were working some 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) underground to improve safety conditions at Karl Marx mine at the time of the methane blast. Rescue teams heard the voices of some of the trapped miners when they attempted to get to them through a damaged shaft, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Turchynov told Ukrainian television Sunday. The explosion also injured five workers who worked above ground. They were hospitalized with severe burns, said Maryna Nikitina, a spokeswoman for Ukraine's industrial safety watchdog agency. Ukraine has some of the world's most dangerous mines because of outdated equipment and poor safety standards. Since the 1991 Soviet collapse, more than 4,800 miners in Ukraine have been killed. Officials say that for every 1 million tons of coal brought to the surface in Ukraine, three miners lose their lives.