Eight dead in Ukraine mine accident

Aug 24, 2009, 11:51 GMT

Kiev - Five Ukrainian coal miners were receiving hospital treatment after an underground accident that killed eight of their coworkers, said mine officials quoted by local media on Monday.

Officials in Makeevka, a city in the eastern Donetsk province, reported the suspected underground explosion early Saturday evening, according the Interfax news agency.

The five injured miners were expected to recover.

All victims had suffered burn injuries, Channel 5 television reported.

'There are no words that can comfort the pain of the mothers, wives, and children of the dead, but I can say for sure, they will not be alone in their sorrow,' Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said in a statement.

'The government will do everything possible to assist the families of the dead and injured,' Tymoshenko said.

A total of 141 men were known to have been in a gallery about 110 metres below ground when a probable methane gas detonation took place shortly before 6 pm Saturday, according to news reports.

Recovery work was in progress, but official reaction was slowed because of a national holiday on Monday, Ukrainian Independence Day.

A check on Friday of methane gas levels by mine company inspectors gave a safe result, Channel 5 television reported.

Ukraine's worst-ever pit explosion, which occurred in the Donetsk province in 2007, killed 101 coal miners. Investigators blamed poor safety standards and an unexpected increase in methane gas levels for that blast.