Around midnight on August 16 in the Nineteenth Party Congress Mine of the Luhanskvuhillia (Luhansk Coal) State Holding Company a methane explosion at a depth of 610 meters took place in the L-1 section, where 28 persons were present. On the following day it was announced that 20 bodies had been claimed from the site, four miners had been found alive and are now in the toxicological division of the regional hospital. Four other miners remain unaccounted for.
Search and repair work continues in the mine. Coal extraction at the enterprise has been suspended. To find the causes of the accident and help the families of the deceased a state commission headed by Labor and Social Policy Minister Ivan Sakhan. Coal Industry Minister Serhiy Tulub has been working in the region for the second day.
August 17-19 have been declared days of universal mourning in Luhansk oblast. Today the remains of 13 miners were interred, and tomorrow the remaining victims will be buried.
A memorial service for the deceased will be held in St. Volodymyr's Cathedral.
Incidentally:
In the first half of 1998, 219 miners perished in Ukrainian coal mines. In January, 28 Selydovuhillia Novohrodska 1/3 State Holding Co. miners were injured. In April, the lives of 63 miners were claimed and 45 were injured in a methane explosion down the Skochynsky mine, with 264 persons below ground at the time of the accident.
Reuters photo







