Seven miners were killed today when a blast tore through a mine in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, officials said, blaming the accident on safety rule violations.
The explosion occurred in the morning hours at a depth of 1,300 meters with 52 miners in the shaft, the local prosecutor's office said.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan told a session of parliament that "the tragedy occurred because basic safety rules were ignored."
Fatal accidents are a regular feature at Ukrainian mines, most of which are located in the country's industrial eastern region. Many of the mines are underfunded and poorly equipped, and safety violations are rife.
In the worst accident of its kind in the country's post- Soviet history, more than 100 miners were killed in an explosion in 2007 at the Zasyadko mine, one of the three biggest in Ukraine.
Donetsk is part of the Donbass coal mining region, which has been hit by separatists protests in recent weeks.
