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37 Miners Trapped After Ukraine Explosion

Biggest-ever Ukraine coal mine blast

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 8, 2008 8:31 AM CDT

(Newser) – A massive explosion in a Ukrainian coal mine trapped at least 37 miners and injured four others above ground, the AP reports. Several buildings were flattened. The mine had been ruled too dangerous to use, and the miners had been working to improve conditions. It was the biggest blast in Ukrainian coal-mining history. Rescuers were racing to the scene.

“The mine will likely be closed down,” the deputy PM added. Since the fall of the USSR, 4,800 Ukrainian miners have lost their lives; for every million tons of coal mined in the country, three workers die, officials say.

Miners walk near the Karl Marx coal mine's ground offices, background, damaged by an underground explosion in the Donetsk, Ukraine mine.
Miners walk near the Karl Marx coal mine's ground offices, background, damaged by an underground explosion in the Donetsk, Ukraine mine.   (AP Photo/Photomig)
A mine-rescue service bus is seen at the Karl Marx coal mine in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, Sunday, June 8, 2008, shortly after an underground explosion at the mine.
A mine-rescue service bus is seen at the Karl Marx coal mine in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, Sunday, June 8, 2008, shortly after an underground explosion at the mine.   (AP Photo/Photomig)
A 47-year old woman, Olga Olendarenko, injured by a coal mine explosion, is seen at a hospital in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, Sunday, June 8, 2008.
A 47-year old woman, Olga Olendarenko, injured by a coal mine explosion, is seen at a hospital in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, Sunday, June 8, 2008.   (AP Photo/Photomig)
An official, left, tries to comfort the relative of a miner at the Karl Marx coal mine in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, Sunday, June 8, 2008, shortly after an explosion there.
An official, left, tries to comfort the relative of a miner at the Karl Marx coal mine in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, Sunday, June 8, 2008, shortly after an explosion there.   (AP Photo/Photomig)
Miners' relatives cry at the Karl Marx coal mine in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, Sunday, June 8, 2008, shortly after an underground explosion at the mine.
Miners' relatives cry at the Karl Marx coal mine in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, Sunday, June 8, 2008, shortly after an underground explosion at the mine.   (AP Photo/Photomig)
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