One person killed, another nine remain missing in exploded mine debris in LPR
LUHANSK. May 4 (Interfax) - On person was killed, four were injured, and another nine remain missing, in the debris of the Maloivanivska mine in the Pervomaisky district of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), where methane exploded, LPR Health Minister Larisa Airapetyan said, on Wednesday.
"Twenty people were in the mine, four are in the hospital with burns, one victim's body was retrieved today, nine are missing in the debris," Airapetyan said, at a government meeting.
"The chances of finding survivors are not high: there is a lot of gas in there," she said.
The LPR Interior Ministry, for its part, said that the mine was working illegally. "Documents were earlier seized in the mine, during an inspection, and an order was issued to ban the work of the enterprise."
According to the LPR Emergency Situations Ministry, methane exploded in the Maloivanivska mine in the Pervomaisky district of the LPR, on Tuesday afternoon. A state of emergency has been declared in the LPR. "An emergency situation headquarters and a state commission have been created. The debris is being cleared and there is a search and rescue operation going on. The commission is comprised of the emergency situations minister, the fuel minister and the energy minister. The commission is being led by the chairman of the Council of Ministers," the ministry said.
