Coal Mine Explosion Kills at Least 10 in West Ukraine

An explosion took place at a mine in Ukraine's west. At least 10 people died.

KIEV (Sputnik) — At least 10 people have died as a result of an explosion at the Stepnaya mine in the western Ukraine's Lviv region, Independent Trade Union of Coal Miners of Ukraine (NPGU) head Mihaylo Volinets said Thursday.

"The explosion left 10 miners killed and two severely injured," Volinets said on his Facebook page.

He added that a total of seven people were injured. Earlier in the day he said that eleven people were killed while 34 people were inside the mine at the time of the explosion.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has already left for Lviv to visit the site, according to his press service. Local police reported that the criminal case over the incident had already been initiated.

Following the incident Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko declared all-Ukrainian mourning and ordered to carry out inspections of the country's coal mines.

The Stepnaya mine has been in operation since 1978 and is considered dangerous due to large amounts of methane in its coal deposits.