国际英语新闻：Ukraine mine blast kills 65

DONETSK, Ukraine -- At least 65 miners died and 35 were missing Sunday after a gas explosion ripped through one of Ukraine's main coal mines, the emergency situations ministry said.

"Sixty-five people were killed and the fate of 35 others is unknown," ministry spokesman Igor Krol said, adding that 28 miners had been hospitalised.

A total of 456 people were in the Zasyadko mine in the eastern Donetsk region when the explosion occurred at 3:11 am (0111 GMT), a spokesman for the emergency situations ministry said.

A massive rescue operation continued through the day with 65 rescue teams and more than 20 medical units at the scene, the emergency situations ministry said in a statement.

Grim-faced rescuers wearing hard hats and carrying oxygen tanks prepared to descend into the mine, where officials said a fire was still raging.

"I don't know what happened. I heard a bang and the air started to get hotter," miner Vitaly Svetkovsky, 30, said at a local hospital, his eyes circled in coal dust.

The hospital's chief doctor Yevgeny Gadchuk said most of the miners hospitalized were suffering from methane inhalation. "They're in a state of shock," he said.

Hundreds of desperate family members gathered by the entrance to the mine looking for news of their loved ones.

"I detest them, these mines," said a middle-aged woman, in tears as she tried to track down a relative.

Officials periodically came out of an administrative building with names of those who were confirmed as dead.

"Dear friends, we have some new surnames: Ershov, Pavlenko..." an official said. The names were met with cries from relatives.

Challenged about delays in identifying the bodies, the official snapped: "How can one identify a body missing an arm and without a head?"

At least 350 miners had been evacuated, said Mykola Maleyev, an official with Ukraine's work safety authority.

"Work has been complicated by the fact that the incident has affected the ventilation system," Malayev said.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, who comes from the region, headed to the scene to oversee the government's response to one of the worst mining accidents in the country, vowing to establish the cause of the accident.

"I am grieving with all of Ukraine," President Viktor Yushchenko said in a statement.

The head of the regional administration declared three days of mourning, Interfax reported.

The Zasyadko mine, one of Ukraine's largest, employs some 10,000 people and produces up to 10,000 tonnes of coal every day.

After several deadly accidents it has gained a reputation as one of the most dangerous in the country.

A gas leak in September 2006 killed 13 miners and made dozens more sick.

In 1999 an explosion there claimed 50 lives, while in 2001 another blast left 55 people dead.

Most of the disasters were caused by build-ups of methane gas, which can occur suddenly in the mine shafts, said Anatoly Akimochkin, deputy head of Ukraine's Independent Miners' Union.

Wages at most Ukrainian mines depend on the volume of coal produced, which gives miners an incentive to ignore safety procedures that would halt work when methane levels are high, he said.

"Everyone tries not to pay attention to small problems in the safety equipment," Akimochkin said. "The pay system is one of the biggest causes of our accidents."

Ukraine's coal mines are concentrated in the eastern part of the country and are considered among the most perilous in the world, with many poorly financed and employing outdated Soviet-era equipment.

Similar conditions are found in mines across the former Soviet Union.

One miner was killed on Saturday in the Lenin Mine, also in the Donetsk region, after a section of tunnel collapsed, Interfax news agency reported, citing the emergency situations ministry.