KIEV, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Eight people were injured in a methane blast in a coal mine in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, authorities said Tuesday.
The accident occurred at around 4:45 p.m. local time (1445 GMT) Monday in "Pokrovskaya" mine, when 406 miners were working underground, the State Service for Emergencies said in a statement.
During the rescue operation that lasted for about an hour, all miners were brought to surface alive, but eight of them received injuries and were taken to a hospital, the statement said.
Later in the day, Pavlo Zhebrivsky, the head of Donetsk regional military-civilian administration, wrote on Facebook that four of the injured miners are in severe condition.
Last year, 23 people lost their lives and 757 others were injured in coal mine accidents in the East European country, mostly due to outdated equipment and high concentration of methane levels. Enditem
