Donetsk, Ukraine--At least 10 miners were killed and 23 more were missing and feared dead in eastern Ukraine after a blast on Wednesday at an accident-prone coal mine in the rebel-held city of Donetsk.
The early morning blast, believed to be caused by a build-up of methane gas, hit the Zasyadko mine near the city's bomb-scarred airport in what officials described as a "terrible tragedy".
By Wednesday evening 10 bodies had been located, according to the regional administration.
"The fate of 23 other miners is still unknown," the pro-Kiev administration said on its website, adding that 16 miners were being treated in hospital for injuries.
The head of the rebel Donetsk People's Republic administration, Maksim Leshchenko, told reporters that 197 workers, out of 230 in the mine when the explosion occurred shortly before 0400 GMT, had been rescued alive.
On Wednesday evening, emergency workers were forced to call off the rescue operation due to the threat posed by the high methane levels, Mykhaylo Volynets of the Ukrainian Independent Miners Union said.
A spokesman for another mining union, who did not wish to be named, told AFP the chances of finding more survivors were "practically zero".
- 'No information' -
In Donetsk, anxious family members gathered outside the mine to await news of their loved ones.
Valentina Dzyuba, 72, told AFP she had been waiting for seven hours for news of her 47-year-old son Vladimir.
"We have no information. I fear he's dead," a tearful Dzyuba said.
Vyacheslav Baloban, one of two injured miners who AFP met at Donetsk hospital, said he was knocked unconscious by the blast.
"I just remember the explosion... I just remember the dust," Baloban, who was being treated for a head injury and burns, told AFP.
- 'Terrible tragedy' -
President Petro Poroshenko sent condolences on the "tragedy" to the victims' families in a Twitter message.
The coal mines dotted across Ukraine's eastern rustbelt have a history of disasters involving high numbers of casualties.
Zasyadko, which is one of the country's biggest, was the scene of the worst mining accident in Ukraine's post-Soviet history in 2007, in which 101 workers were killed.
Ukraine's parliament speaker Volodymyr Groysman had earlier announced 32 fatalities in the "terrible tragedy" and called on lawmakers to observe a minute's silence.
Groysman later backtracked, saying he could not confirm the toll.
The incident was seen as a test of the ability of the rebel authorities which now control swathes of eastern Ukraine to manage a crisis.
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk complained that the rebels did not let government rescue teams help in the rescue operation.
afp
