Donetsk, Ukraine--Ukraine on Thursday observed a day of mourning after 32 miners died in a blast in a notoriously dangerous mine just a few kilometres from the frontline, where Kiev has reported an increase in attacks by pro-Russian separatists.
Rescuers found the bodies of 32 miners in the Zasyadko mine, with one person still unaccounted for, a day after a blast ripped through the shaft, emergency officials of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic said.
Most of the bodies have been brought to the surface for identification, while survivors were being treated in hospital for burns and gas poisoning.
The Zasyadko mine is located on the outskirts of rebel hub Donetsk not far from the frontline of the conflict between the pro-Russian separatists and Kiev's forces.
Despite the conflict, the mine had remained in operation.
"Security norms are not respected. They force them to extract without pause to have results and round numbers," one tearful woman whose husband died in the mine told AFP, refusing to give her name.
International monitors have reported sporadic heavy fire in the area of the Donetsk airport nearby despite the EU-mediated ceasefire struck on February 12 aiming to end 11 months of violence that has killed over 6,000 people.
Kiev's security spokesmen said that sporadic attacks on its positions killed one Ukrainian soldier since Wednesday, and a civilian working for the emergency services was killed by shelling in Avdiyivka, a village west of Donetsk.
Donetsk region prosecutors have launched a probe into the possible violation of safety precautions at the mine, but conceded that an investigation would be impossible as the mine is under the control of pro-Russian separatists.
Rebel prosecutors said they had launched a probe of their own.
- Day of mourning -
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had decreed that Thursday would be a nationwide day of mourning, ordering the Ukrainian flag flown at half-mast and cancelling entertainment events.
The parliament at midday observed a minute's silence, while in Donetsk, a piece of black fabric was tied to the flagpost by the entrance to the mine's headquarters.
Access to the mine was closed off by the rebels Thursday morning, and psychologists at the scene were trying to comfort two women convinced that their miner husbands have died.
"We are trying to calm them down. We say that perhaps their husbands are still alive even though they don't believe it," said Oksana, one of the psychologists.
- Equipment withdrawal -
Kiev and rebels both report withdrawing equipment from the frontline as per the ceasefire agreement.
However, international monitors say they need greater access and more information to verify the pullback, and Poroshenko discussed expanding their mandate with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
afp
