Zasyadko mine to resume work after cause of March 4 blast established
MOSCOW. March 5 (Interfax) - Donetsk's Zasyadko coal mine, where 32 people were killed in a methane gas explosion on March 4, will restart operations only after experts present their conclusions concerning the cause of the accident, Alexei Kostrubitsky, emergency situations minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), told Interfax on Thursday.
"The mine's operations have been suspended. Rescuers are working there. They are looking for the last miner, who remains unaccounted for. The mine will resume its work only after experts present their conclusion detailing the cause of the accident," Kostrubitsky said, adding that it was "definitely a methane gas explosion in the shaft".
"Experts will establish the reasons that led to the explosion - whether they be violations of safety rules, human error, etc. But it is still too early to speak about that," he said.
There were 230 people in the shaft at the time of the accident, which occurred at 5:20 a.m. on March 4.
The Zasyadko mine, one of Ukraine's largest coal producers, is located in militia-controlled territory.
In an interview with Interfax, the DPR Emergency Situations Ministry put the death toll from the Zasyadko gas blast at 32.
