"A shell fell in the area of the mine, as a result electric power supply is disrupted… There is no threat of the mine flooding, evacuation of 110 miners has been carried out," the agency quoted Deputy Donetsk Militia Commander, Eduard Basurin, as saying.
Earlier it was reported that around 500 miners were trapped underground in eastern Ukraine near Donetsk after a mortar strike had left the Zasyadko mine without power, a source in the republic’s Emergencies Ministry said Monday.
"At around 12:00 [09:00 GMT] a [mortar] struck a power station that powers the Zasyadko mine, where there are currently 496 miners underground," the source said.
The fighting between government forces and independence supporters in southeastern Ukraine's Donbas region has intensified in recent weeks, driving up the civilian death toll. On January 13, the shelling of a bus in the Donetsk Region town of Volnovakha killed 13 civilians. Last week, at least eight Donetsk residents were killed by rocket fire while waiting at a transit stop for a trolleybus.
Mariupol, a major southeastern Ukraine port city, came under fire on January 24, leaving 30 people dead and over 90 wounded, according to Ukrainian authorities. Kiev and pro-independence forces are blaming each other for the killings.
