32 feared dead in east Ukraine mine blast

The mine accident comes as Ukraine’s army said it was pulling back 152-calibre howitzers, the 'second stage' of the peace accord.

DONETSK, UKRAINE // At least 32 miners were feared dead on Wednesday following a blast at a coal mine in a rebel-held city of Donetsk.

The chairman of Ukraine’s parliament, Volodymyr Groysman, initially said “there are victims, currently numbering 32”.

He later cast doubt on the fate of the miners, telling MPs that “according to the latest information” 32 miners were unaccounted for, but that only one was confirmed killed.

The blast took place at Zasyadko mine in the separatist hub of Donetsk, near the city’s war-wrecked airport.

However, Mykola Volynko, head of the Miners’ Union of Donbass, which covers the eastern region, confirmed the death toll.

“At the moment we know of 32 people dead. We don’t know how many people are still in the mine,” he said.

A spokesman for the Trade Union of Coal Miners in Ukraine said that two bodies had been brought to the surface so far.

Rescue workers were trying to locate a further approximately 45 miners who had “practically zero” chances of survival, said the spokesman .

A spokeswoman for the ministry of emergency situations of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said “there are still 70 people” trapped in the shaft.

Donetsk has been the focus of a nearly year-long conflict between government forces and pro-Russian rebels.

The accident comes nearly three weeks into a ceasefire deal. Rebels overran the town of Debaltseve in the wake of the ceasefire, but the truce since then has largely held.

Ukrainian prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk sent rescue teams to the scene, but the rebels “did not allow Ukrainian rescue teams to reach the site”, he said.

President Petro Poroshenko sent his condolences to the families of the perished miners and demanded that the rebels give Kiev-loyal authorities access to the site.

The facility has been caught in crossfire between the rebels and government forces on several occasions. On one occasion, miners were trapped inside after shelling knocked out its power supply.

The accident comes as the warring parties claim to be pulling back their artillery in line with the February truce.

Ukraine’s army said on Wednesday it was pulling back 152-calibre howitzers, the “second stage” in the accord.

* Agence France-Presse