State flags will fly at half-mast, and a minute’s silence will be observed across Ukraine at noon on Thursday.
An explosion occurred at the Zasyadko coal mine in eastern Ukraine overnight to Wednesday. According to the Donetsk Mayor’s Office, there were 230 people inside at the moment. The death of 24 miners has been confirmed and the fate of nine miners is still unclear, said Yuliana Bedilo, spokesperson for the emergencies ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
The Zasyadko mine is a coal producing enterprise in Donetsk. It was commissioned in 1958. The mine has seen five serious accidents over the past 15 years. The most serious one of them took the lives of 101 miners on November 18, 2007.
Two weeks later another explosion injured 52 miners. A third mine blast the day after claimed the lives of five rescuers working to liquidate the aftermath of the explosion, and left more than 30 people injured.
More about:
