KIEV, November 18 (RIA Novosti) - At least 17 miners have been killed and several dozen others are missing after a methane explosion in a coalmine in eastern Ukraine, the head of the regional industrial safety regulator said on Sunday.
The Zasyadko mine in the Donetsk Region was hit by an explosion on the night of November 17-18.
"By now the bodies of 17 miners have been found. Many of them have not yet been identified. The fate of 83 people is unknown. They are still inside the mine," Mykola Maleyev said.
According to Maleyev, 27 miners have been hospitalized.
Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych is expected to arrive at the scene of the tragedy soon.
