Donetsk mine blast kills 32 – militants

10:07, 05.03.2015 1 min read

The death toll from a suspected methane gas explosion at the Zasiadko coal mine in Donetsk stands at 32, the Emergency Situations Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) told Interfax.

"The dead bodies of the eight remaining miners have been lifted to the surface, bringing the death toll to 32 people," a ministry spokesman said.

One more miner remains unaccounted for.

The head of Ukraine's mine unions, Mykhailo Volynets, has confirmed this information. "As of this morning, there are 33 victims – the dead bodies of 32 of them have already been found and a search is under way for the last one," Volynets wrote on Facebook on Thursday morning.

There were 230 people in the shaft at the time of the blast, which occurred at 5:20 a.m. on Wednesday.

The Zasiadko mine is one of Ukraine's major coal producers.