Nando Times

Ukraine coal mine explosion kills at least 7

The Associated Press

KIEV, Ukraine (January 21, 2001 11:42 a.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - A methane gas explosion killed at least seven miners and injured 15 more in a coal mine in Ukraine's Donetsk region Sunday, officials said. One miner was reported missing.

A total of 59 miners were working about 2,460 feet underground at the Krasnolimanskaya mine in the town of Krasnoarmeisk at the time of the explosion, said Mykhailo Kliagin, a spokesman for a militarized mining rescue service in Donetsk.

One of the injured miners was in critical condition, Kliagin said.

Elsewhere, three miners who were trapped underground late Friday by a coal layer collapse in the Luhansk region were rescued Saturday, the Interfax news agency reported. They were reported to be in a satisfactory condition.

Ukraine's mines, considered the world's most dangerous, cannot maintain proper safety conditions or modernize equipment due to insufficient funds and cuts in subsidies.

At least 18 Ukraine miners have been killed already this year. Last year, 318 deaths were reported in mining accidents, including 81 who were died in a methane gas explosion at the Barakova mine in the town of Krasnodon in March.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), January 21, 2001