(19 Nov 2007)
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AP TELEVISION
Donetsk - 19 Nov 2007
1. Wide of Zasyadko mine administrative headquarters
2. Mid of flag and mine building
3. Ukrainian flag with black cloth at the top to indicate mourning
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AP TELEVISION
Donetsk - 19 Nov 2007
4. Various of rescue miners waiting to meet with Yushchenko
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AP TELEVISION
Donetsk - 18 Nov 2007
5. Various of mine
6. Treatment chambers in hospital ward
6. Various of injured miner undergoing barometric pressure and gas inhalation treatment inside chamber
STORYLINE:
A methane blast ripped through a coal mine in eastern Ukraine early Sunday November 18th, killing at least 63 miners in the ex-Soviet nation's worst mining accident in years, emergency officials said.
More than 360 miners were rescued, but 37 others remained trapped inside the mine, one of Ukraine's largest and deepest, with a raging fire hampering efforts to save them, officials said.
The explosion occurred around 3 a.m. (0100GMT) about 1,000 meters (more than 3,300 feet) deep inside the Zasyadko mine in the regional capital, Donetsk, the heart of the country's coal mining industry, the Emergency Situations Ministry said.
The accident, the worst in Ukraine in seven years, highlighted the lack of attention to safety in a country with some of the world's most dangerous mines.
President Viktor Yushchenko blamed his Cabinet for not doing enough to reform coal mining and ordered an official panel to investigate the accident and bring those responsible to account.
Local authorities declared three days of mourning for the dead miners.
Dozens of teary-eyed relatives gathered at the mine's headquarters in Donetsk waiting for news on their loved ones.
As grim-faced officials emerged to announce the names of the workers found dead, the relatives broke into sobs and cries. Some fainted.
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