A Friday accident at the A. A. Skochynsky coal mine, located in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk, claimed the lives of seven people, a spokesman for the Donetsk region branch of the Ukrainian mining industry watchdog told Interfax.
A methane-air mixture explosion occurred at the fourth section of the mine at 0624 on Friday, he said.
There were 78 people in the mine at the time of the accident, the spokesman said.
The Prosecutor’s Office of the Donetsk region has already opened a criminal inquiry into the miners’ death.
The Prosecutor’s Office press service reported on Friday that a
criminal case had been opened on the counts of “violations of safety
rules in the course of high-risk operations, accidentally causing
people’s death.”
“A methane gas explosion occurred at the Skochynsky mine in Donetsk
at around 0620 on April 11. There were 52 enterprise employees at a
depth of around 1,300 meters. Seven miners sustained lethal injuries as a
result of the accident. One miner was admitted to a hospital with
injuries,” the press service.
The mine’s operations have been suspended.
The Donetsk region’s prosecutor is personally overseeing the investigation into the accident.
