Ukrainian coal mine explosion kills 56

Ukraine:A methane explosion in a Ukrainian coal mine killed at least 56 miners yesterday, and officials held out little hope of rescuing 44 others trapped more than 1,000 metres underground.

President Viktor Yushchenko, who is due to visit the site today, accused prime minister and long-time political foe Viktor Yanukovich of failing to improve the appalling safety record of Ukraine's vast and often decrepit coal mines.

"There is a blockage at the accident site formed by a cave-in, air shafts and water channels," said a grim Mr Yanukovich, dressed all in black, after visiting the mine in the eastern city of Donetsk, the heartland of Ukrainian industry and of his own support.

"This accident proves once again that man is powerless before nature," said the premier, adding that a fire was still blazing underground several hours after the explosion.

National television showed relatives of the miners weeping or waiting silently for news of any more survivors, after rescue teams evacuated more than 350 of the 457 miners who were working at the time of the blast.

"The temperature rose sharply - so sharply you couldn't see anything," said miner Vitaly Kvitkovsky. "I put on my breathing equipment and found my way out by feeling the pipes and the rail lines." Accidents are common in Ukraine's coal mines, many of which were built in the mid-19th century, and the Zasyadko pit where yesterday's explosion occurred has suffered several accidents in recent years. Official statistics say 80 miners have died in Ukraine this year, though independent trade unions put the figure higher. Last year, 170 miners died.

Ukraine's mines are dangerous not only because of poor maintenance and ageing equipment but because they are so deep - typically more than 1,000 metres, twice the depth of most European coal mines - and methane concentration increases with depth.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, more than 4,700 miners have been killed in Ukraine. But despite the dangers, there is growing appetite for the country's rich coal reserves, particularly amid rising natural gas prices, and Mr Yanukovich's government called for production to increase by a third this year.

President Yushchenko said the government had "made insufficient efforts to reorganise the mining sector, particularly implementation of safe mining practices".

One tearful woman waiting for news of a missing relative spoke for much of a nation when she said: "I detest them, these mines."