DONETSK, Ukraine – Early on March 4, a suspected methane blast caused an explosion 1.5 kilometers deep inside the Zasyadko mine, killing at least 33 miners, according to the latest casualty count supplied by officials in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk.
The armed Kremlin-backed separatist fighters tried to bring order to the chaotic scene near the mine while waiting for rescue workers. A spokeswoman for the separatist Ministry of Emergencies stood by. Meanwhile, sporadic outgoing shelling could be heard — aimed in the direction of Pisky, a small city near the Donetsk airport that remains under Ukrainian control.
Local officials on the scene told the Kyiv Post that some 230 miners were underground at the time of the explosion and that most of them — 150 — made it out safely.
The estimates of dead, wounded and missing vary widely, however.
“We are unable to confirm any numbers of those killed and trapped,” a spokeswoman told the Kyiv Post.
According to Volodymyr Hroisman, the Ukraine Parliament speaker, some 32 mine workers were killed and 47 were trapped. The mine workers union, though, spoke about 77 dead and 47 missing. The separatist authorities in Donetsk, however, could initially confirm only one mine worker killed in the explosion, with another 73 missing.
“We’ve recovered one body, hence for now, which is why we can confirm only one death,” the spokeswoman stated. “We don’t want to spread false information and to take away hopes of the family of the mine workers.”
Rescue workers rushed to the scene, but lethal methane gas had to be removed before they were able to get inside. The head of the local mining safety service, Vladimir Tsymbalenko said: “We can only go inside the mine when it is safe for the rescue workers to do so.”
As the news of the blast spread across the separatist stronghold, many family members and friends gathered at the courtyard of the mine. The separatist authorities did not share much more information with family members though, leaving them distressed. Medics and psychologists were on hand to help. The armed separatists guided the family members to an office building nearby. “Don’t harass them,” one of the separatist fighters demanded.
Anton Astakhov leaned against a wall and asked: “Why?! My brother started working here just a few months ago. He used to work at the airport. Why?! Why him?!” Astakhov started crying. “I’m sick of all this,” he said. Two armed separatist fighters tried to calm him.
As hours passed by, more information came out.
The spokeswoman of the Ministry of Emergencies confirmed seven bodies were recovered.
“We can confirm 33 miners have been tragically killed inside the Zadyasko mine and some 30 are still trapped. We don’t know the actual number that is trapped, but we think it must be in its 30s,” she said, looking at a piece of paper.
The high death toll shocked grieving relatives.
“Why does God need to punish us so hard?!” a woman, Lyudmila, cries as her husband hugs her. Both were unwilling to answer any more questions.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities have tried to contact the separatist authorities to provide emergency assistance. Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk accused the separatists of blocking Ukrainian rescue workers. Kremlin-backed separatist leader Denis Pushilin, however, said that help from Ukraine was not needed. “If we would need any help in this tragic event we would turn ourselves to the Luhansk People’s Republic or Russia,” Pushilin said.
Hopes faded about the fate of the missing miners as morning turned to afternoon and then evening.
“It is our priority to bring those trapped to safety, but we also need to be realistic,” Tsymbalenko said.
It is not the first time the Zasyadko coal mine has experienced a tragic disaster. In 2007, some 102 miners were killed in a blast. Ukraine’s coal mines are notoriously unsafe. Most of the nation’s mining takes place in the Donbas, parts of which are now controlled by Russian forces and their separatist allies in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
Kyiv Post contributor Stefan Huijboom is a Dutch journalist.
