At least eight miners have been killed in a methane gas explosion in a coal mine in western Ukraine's Lviv region, according to officials.

Twenty other workers were still unaccounted for after the blast in Stepovaya mine, the country's emergencies service said in an online statement on Thursday.

Thirty-four miners were at a depth of 550 metres when the explosion ripped through the mine at 12:46 local time (13:46 GMT), the statement added.

The mine, which is run by the state company Lvivvuhillja, is located 460km west of the capital, Kiev, and about 10km from the Polish border.

In a post on Facebook, Oleksandr Volynets, head of a miners' union, put the death toll at 11.

Ukrainian presidential spokesman Svyatoslav Tsegolko said in a separate statement that rescue operations were ongoing. </s> KIEV, March 2 (Reuters) - At least eight miners were killed in a methane gas explosion in a coal mine in western Ukraine's Lviv region on Thursday, the Ukrainian emergencies service said.

The service said 34 miners had been at a depth of 550 metres when the explosion ripped through the mine at 12.46 local time (1046 GMT).

A further six miners were injured in the blast and 20 others were being brought back to the surface unharmed, it added.

Although mine safety has improved in recent years, fatal accidents are still relatively common in Ukraine's ageing pits, most of which date from the Soviet Union.

Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman cancelled a planned meeting with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel in Kiev to fly to the area of the accident, the government's press service said.

Ukraine operates around 20 coal mines, while a further 60 are in Ukrainian territory controlled by Russia-backed separatists. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Alessandra Prentice and Gareth Jones) </s> At least 11 coal miners were killed on Thursday when a methane gas blast tore through a pit in western Ukraine, the head of the coal miners’ trade union said. “A methane explosion. 11 killed,” Mykhaylo Volynets wrote on Facebook. Ukraine’s emergencies service said that 20 people were unaccounted for and that 172 miners were in the pit at the time. It added that people were buried under ground after the blast.

Rescue workers were scrambling to the site, in the western Lviv region not far from the Polish border, the emergencies ministry said. Ukraine has frequent mine accidents that claim dozens of lives each year. But this is the first major explosion reported this year. Ukraine relies heavily on coal for electricity and heat despite efforts by Western donors to weaken the former Soviet republic’s dependency on the polluting fuel.

Many of the mines are in a dilapidated condition and deemed too dangerous to operate. </s> Search of Ukraine coal mine ends with blast death toll of 17

MOSCOW (AP) — Officials in rebel-held eastern Ukraine say the death toll from a coal mine explosion is up to 17.

The methane blast took place Thursday at the mine in the village of Yurivka, in the part of the Luhansk region controlled by separatist fighters.

On Friday, four miners were confirmed dead and 13 were listed as missing. The region's emergencies ministry said the search ended Saturday after the bodies of the missing miners were brought above ground.

Parts of the Luhansk region where the explosion happened are under the control of Russia-backed separatists who have fought Ukrainian government troops since 2014. The conflict closed the mine that year but it reopened in 2018. </s> MOSCOW — Officials in rebel-held eastern Ukraine say the death toll from a coal mine explosion is up to 17.

The methane blast took place Thursday at the mine in the village of Yurivka, in the part of the Luhansk region controlled by separatist fighters.

On Friday, four miners were confirmed dead and 13 were listed as missing. The region’s emergencies ministry said the search ended Saturday after the bodies of the missing miners were brought above ground.

Parts of the Luhansk region where the explosion happened are under the control of Russia-backed separatists who have fought Ukrainian government troops since 2014. The conflict closed the mine that year but it reopened in 2018.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> KIEV:- Eight miners died Thursday when a methane gas explosion tore through a pit in western Ukraine, in the latest mine disaster in the ex-Soviet state. Rescuers said they had managed to save an additional 20 miners who were trapped underground when the blast hit the mine in the western Lviv region near the border with Poland. Ukraine’s emergency ministry and prosecutors said eight miners died. The ministry said six others were hurt.–AFP

Officials said Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and Energy Minister Igor Nasalyk immediately left for the site after hearing the news.

Ukraine has frequent mine accidents that claim dozens of lives at a time.

But this is the first major explosion reported this year. </s> MOSCOW (AP) — Officials in rebel-held eastern Ukraine say the death toll from a coal mine explosion is up to 17. The methane blast took place Thursday at the mine in the village of Yurivka,…

MOSCOW (AP) — Officials in rebel-held eastern Ukraine say the death toll from a coal mine explosion is up to 17.

The methane blast took place Thursday at the mine in the village of Yurivka, in the part of the Luhansk region controlled by separatist fighters.

On Friday, four miners were confirmed dead and 13 were listed as missing. The region’s emergencies ministry said the search ended Saturday after the bodies of the missing miners were brought above ground.

Parts of the Luhansk region where the explosion happened are under the control of Russia-backed separatists who have fought Ukrainian government troops since 2014. The conflict closed the mine that year but it reopened in 2018.

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed. </s> A methane gas explosion killed eight miners and injured six in western Ukraine. Local authorities say there were preparations at the mine toThe deadly explosion happened on Thursday at the Stepnaya mine in the Lvov region. Eight miners are reportedly dead and six injured, some seriously, while 20 people were successfully rescued, local police say. Early reports claimed as many as 11 deaths."There were casualties, but the reports about 11 miners killed have not been confirmed," Lvov region head Oleg Sinyutka told NewsOne TV. "There are people in serious condition, medics are helping them."The blast happened at a depth of 550 meters and triggered a cave-in over one of the conveyor belts, the local emergency service said. The mine is part of Lvovugol, and has been in operation since 1978. It is rated asAccording to Sinyutka, the mine was preparing to increase output to compensate for a coal shortage in the country. Ukraine is currently in a state of emergency in the energy sector due to a lack of coal needed for electricity and central heating."Since we lost coal from eastern Ukraine, we have been preparing to boost production of Lvovugol. Whether the explosion is connected with the preparations for increasing the output or anything else is up for an investigative commission to establish," the official told 122 Ukraine TV channel.Coal had previously been supplied from rebel-held areas in the east, but over a month ago,The people behind the blockade argue that trading with the rebels is tantamount to treason. Kiev is reluctant to order a forced resolution to the crisis, and has instead called on the activists to leave, saying that otherwise the power plants would stop working and Ukraine would suffer a power shortage. In response, theAmid the crisis, the rebel authorities ordered a change of management for businesses located in their territory which had been operating under Ukrainian law to keep economic ties with partners located in Kiev-controlled parts of the country. </s> 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.

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.
A large methane explosion at a coal mine in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine leaves 17 miners dead.