DONETSK, Ukraine — A rebel-held city scarred by months of conflict in eastern Ukraine suffered more tragedy Wednesday when a methane gas explosion in a coal mine killed at least 24 workers and left nine missing.
Rebel officials said the accident was caused by the ever-present danger of methane gas, rather than artillery fire.
The rebel government that controls Donetsk was slow to divulge information, while a senior official in the capital of Kiev was swift to give a death toll of 32, only to retract it several hours later.
By nightfall, Yuliana Bedilko, a representative for the rebel-managed rescue services at the …read more
Source: San Francisco Chronicle