Thirty-seven miners were missing after a gas explosion tore through a pit in Ukraine's Donbass coalfield yesterday, destroying the main shaft and complicating rescue attempts.

Officials said the blast hit the Karl Marx colliery near Donetsk in the heart of the coalfield at 5 am local time about 1 km underground. Mining operations had been suspended and repair work was being carried out at the time.

Television pictures at the 110-year-old mine showed production machinery on the surface reduced to rubble. Windows were smashed and a gondola was overturned.

Marina Nikitina, spokeswoman for the regional mine safety inspectorate, said 37 men were missing. Four staff on the surface suffered burns and had been hit by equipment thrown about by the blast.

"The shaft has been destroyed. It is impossible to go below," she said.

Coal Industry Minister Viktor Poltavets said rescue workers were trying to restore at least one of the shafts.

"All rescue teams are now engaged in trying to restore at least one shaft so that we can get down into the mine," he said on Ukrainian television.

Unmanned gondolas had been sent underground, but had been unable to proceed beyond a depth of 600 m.

Gas explosions are a frequent occurrence in Ukraine's outdated mines, many of which are unprofitable and date from the 19th century. Many coal deposits are at a depth of 1 km or more, making mining operations more difficult.

The Karl Marx mine, in Yenakiyevo, northeast of Donetsk, was one of 23 where work had been suspended to check on documented safety violations and only restoration and repair work was permitted.

Agencies

(China Daily 06/09/2008 page6)