One miner was killed and six others are missing after a methane explosion at a coal mine in Ukraine today, local officials confirmed this morning.
Ukraine's Mining Inspectorate said the explosion occurred overnight at a depth of 330 metres. Around 400 miners were underground, and 10 were in the immediate area of the blast.
Three of those walked out unharmed. Rescue crews are searching for the missing men, a spokesman for inspectorate said. Deadly accidents regularly strike the ex-Soviet state's collieries, many of which date from the 19th century.