All news

Russia’s emergencies ministry sending its representatives to Donetsk

Apart from that, he said the ministry would send an Ilyushin-76 plane from Russia’s southern city of Rostov-on-Don

MOSCOW, March 6. /TASS/. Russia’s emergencies ministry is sending its representatives to Donetsk to help families of coal miners who were killed or injured in Zasyadko mine explosion, Alexander Drobyshevsky, the ministry’s spokesman, told TASS on Friday.

Apart from that, he said the ministry would send an Ilyushin-76 plane from Russia’s southern city of Rostov-on-Don. The plane would deliver more than 40 tonnes of humanitarian aid, primarily food products and medicines. "They will by loaded onto trucks of an extraordinary humanitarian convoy that will deliver these cargoes to the Donetsk region," the spokesman said.

An explosion at the Zasyadko coalmine took place in the morning of March 4 when 230 coalminers were down in the pits. It is believed that the explosion was caused by methane. The explosion killed 33 miners. Fifteen coal miners were taken to hospital. Rescue operations ended late on Thursday.

Zasyadko coalmine, which is located in the Kievsky district of Donetsk, is a coalmining enterprise that was commissioned for operations in 1958. It has been widely recognized as the champion in terms of industrial accidents among Ukrainian mines. No less than five large accidents have occurred there over the past five years. The three explosions that happened there in 2007 took away the lives of 206 people.